


Hollow Rewards ~Jason McCann~ (Sequel to Empty Bargains)

by KitIsTheOne



Category: Justin Bieber (Musician)
Genre: Action, California, F/M, Forbidden, Gangs, Guns, Love, Romance, Violence, star crossed
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-31
Updated: 2016-05-31
Packaged: 2018-07-11 11:34:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 41,576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7048021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KitIsTheOne/pseuds/KitIsTheOne
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>[Sequel to Empty Bargains]</p><p>After figuring out Jason McCann isn't who she thinks he is, Phoebe Lastings is forced to look for help in the most unlikely places, traveling around California and searching for a way to avenge her brother.  She's set on training herself to cringe at the name "Jason McCann" like she used to, but her lingering love for him is making it difficult.  With the guilt of cheating on the boyfriend she left behind, Phoebe isn't really sure exactly what she wants anymore, aside from one thing — revenge.  But with every turn she takes it seems like there's more trouble ahead, making her wonder if the reward is really worth it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. ~11.29~

**Note:  This is the sequel to the story Empty Bargains.  If you have not read it, please go to my profile and begin!**  
  
         **Returning readers, please enjoy!**  
  
  
  
  
  
    I made it to the address Leah had given me in a little under ten minutes.  It was where she’d said, just outside of Poway in a fairly nice and unassuming neighborhood.  When I pulled up to the curb in front of the house I thought for a second I’d gotten the wrong house number.  The structure was dark and sturdy-looking, three-stories with a large expanse of windows on each level.  The color scheme was filled with reds and browns, complimenting each other in ways that seemed too welcoming for someone like Leah.

 

    I didn’t know what I’d been expecting — a dingy, sick-looking druggy house, maybe.  Definitely something less respectable than the building standing in front of me.  As far as I knew, Leah didn’t seem to have a steady income dealing with drugs or pawning; maybe she’d resorted to prostitution.  It wouldn’t have surprised me.

 

    Nonetheless, I grabbed my phone and my gun before turning off the car and swinging out the driver’s side.  Not wanting any calls, I turned off the cell completely and put it in my pocket.  I checked the safety on the handgun and shoved it in my waistband at the small of my back.  Locking the car, I looked at the address one last time before trudging across the lawn and to the front door.  My hand raised and knocked against the dark wood and I waited, tapping my foot impatiently.  A glance cast behind me caught a woman walking across a lawn on the other side of the street, staring at me as I waited.  I wondered how many people really came and went from this house, since Leah seemed like she was in a different part of California every weekend.

 

    My head snapped to attention when I heard the knob turn.  Soon the door was open and I was staring back at a done-up face with tight jeans and a revealing blouse.  Leah wore a satisfied smile and leaned against the doorframe.

 

    “Look who actually showed up,” she shook her head, laughing lightly.  “I doubted you for a little bit, Phoebe; I thought Jason might’ve reeled you back in after we ended our call.  Either that, or your _other_ boyfriend convinced you to stay — that is, if he doesn’t know about your little fling with Jason.”

 

    “Are you done?” I snapped.  “Because I can leave if you’re not.”

 

    She clucked her tongue.  “Lighten up.  I’m here to help, remember?”

 

    “Then act like it,” I bit back.

 

    “Fine, fine,” Leah rolled her eyes.  She stepped back to let me in and I climbed into the main entry after sending her a hateful glare.  “Welcome to Casa de Leah.”

 

    The door closed behind me and I took in the house.  The ceiling was high and a modern light fixture hung in the center.  Walls were painted in an off-white that gave a nice contrast to the dark wood floors.  I stood on an aztec-print rug that lead almost all the way to the far end of the house, ending with glass sliding doors that looked out on a green backyard.  Modern, block-y furniture was scattered in clumps in three corners of the room and an extremely nice kitchen was set in the last one.  I doubted Leah did enough cooking to use it, which was why it’d stayed so clean.

 

    “It was my aunt’s,” she said, walking past me to sit on a long sofa.  “She left it to me in her will.”

 

    “Why would she do that?” I wrinkled my nose.  How someone could trust Leah with a house, I had no idea.

 

    “Because there was no one else,” she answered cooly.  “But it’s not time for a trip down memory lane.”

 

    I nodded.  “You said you know who went after Sam.”

 

    She clapped her hands together.  “And at the right time, under the right circumstances, I’ll tell you who.”

 

    My jaw went slack.  “What?”

 

    “You heard me.  Did you honestly think I’d tell you and let you storm right out, guns blazing?”  She gave a forced laugh.  “You’d end up dead, and then what use would you be?”

 

    “I’m not doing anything for you,” I snapped.  “You said you’d tell me who; now do it.”

 

    “I don’t believe I did,” Leah said nonchalantly, picking at her nails.  “I said I knew whom.  Then I offered you a place to stay and you said yes.  That’s it.”

 

    I cursed under my breath.

 

    “So,” she continued, turning away from me and walking toward a staircase along the left wall.  “I’m assuming you brought clothes, makeup, shoes, the essentials.  You can bring them in after I show you to your room.”

 

    My hands balled into fists and I had to take a few breaths to calm down.  With everything that’d already happened today, I wasn’t in the mood to add Leah to the load.  Nonetheless, had she not called I would probably still be in the hospital parking lot, trying and failing to explain to Tyler what the hell had happened with Jason.

 

    I didn’t even want to think of what I’d learned about Jason, but I couldn’t help the images of a bloody Emmett lying on the floor of the kitchen.  Even after trying to blink away the picture of his blanching skin as he fought unconsciousness, I could still make out what I imagined his last few days in the hospital were like.  He’d been dying while I was screwing around with Jason, and dead by the time I’d decided my family forgot about me; all the while, Jason said nothing and let everything between us unfold.  I was disgusted with myself for thinking he wasn’t everything Sam had called him.  He had Emmett’s blood on his hands, something I could never see myself forgiving.

 

    “Coming?”  Leah’s voice brought me back to the present.  I looked over and saw her waiting impatiently, a foot on the first stair leading up.  I didn’t reply, only followed her.

 

    The stairs led up to a large landing, cream carpeted floors running to four separate doors hanging ajar.  I expected her to stop there, but strode after Leah when she headed for the next set of steps.  These led to a layout that was much the same as the level below, only with three doors instead of four.  I followed Leah as she walked, hips swaying, to the first door on her right.  After flicking on the light switch she stepped aside to allow my entrance.

 

    “This is your room,” she told me, leaning against the door frame.  “I took the liberty of making your bed — rest assured, it won’t happen again — and stocking your closet and bathroom with a few complimentary items.”

 

    I stepped further into the space, first taking in the large windows along the far wall.  A queen-sized bed was set underneath, framed by tan curtains against maroon-colored walls.  Beside the bed stood a small table with a digital alarm clock that read just past one in the afternoon.  A glance at the floor revealed a large rug the same shade as the curtains covering a majority of the wood flooring, and two modern paintings rested on opposite walls.  I craned my neck to look at the wall behind me, and sure enough a walk-in closet was carved out of the drywall.  Inside were a few dresses, blouses similar to the one Leah wore, a few pairs of shoes, and jeans that looked suffocatingly tight.  To the left of the closet was a door leading into a full bathroom and another door that connected the bathroom to the hall.

 

    “How did you get the money for all of this?” I asked with a gesture to the closet.  “This is expensive; more than _I’m_ willing to pay for clothes.”

 

    “I inherited a lot of the money,” Leah shrugged.  “I was the only grandchild who was ever nice to Grandma Joy, ergo the cash that pays for everything.”

 

    “To think you throw it away on following guys like Jason,” I said bitterly, intent on making the sound of his name so revolting that I could lose what feelings I had for him.

 

    “It’s fun, actually,” she said, inspecting her nails.  “Keeps me on my toes.”

 

    I turned to face her squarely and watched the expression she wore.  There was a long moment of silence where we watched each other before I finally said anything.

 

    “How long are you planning on withholding information from me?”

 

    “I’m just trying to help both of us out,” Leah sighed.  “I don’t know why you insist on seeing me as another person out to get you.”

 

    “Don’t pretend like you aren’t enjoying this,” I bit back.  “The way this will best work out is if you just tell me what you want.  I can get it over with, and then you can tell me who went after Sam.”

 

    She rolled her eyes.  “The way this will best work out,” she said pointedly, taking a few slow steps toward me.  “Is if you just relax for a little while.  We’re in no rush, Phoebe.  We’ll take everything in stride, and in the end it’ll all get done.”

 

    “There’s no ‘ _we_ ’, Leah,” I scoffed, holding my ground.  “There’s ‘ _you’_ , and there’s ‘ _me’_.  I can’t really relax, either, seeing as my brother was almost killed and Emmett and Leo are _dead_.  So, as long as the people that went after Sam are still out there, I’m not going to take a breather.  I’m not going to let another one of the people I love get hurt.”

 

    She clucked her tongue.  “I’m sorry, but I guess you’re going to have to lay low for a while.  I told you I know _who_ is responsible for Sam’s hospitalization, but I don’t know _where_ they are.  I have beef with him too, and if I can go about this the right way, we’ll both be satisfied with the outcome.”

 

    My jaw clenched, along with my fists.  I suddenly wished I’d gotten more information out of Leah before taking off.  I hardly knew her, other than the small amounts of her I’d seen just before Jason went to the hospital.  Every instinct in my body was telling me to leave her house and find somewhere else, but I knew that wasn’t going to be an option.  Jason, as far as I knew, was still in Poway, and Tyler was probably trying to call me.  Knowing Tyler, he wouldn’t rest until he found me again.  Plus, the fact that I didn’t have money left me without the option of a motel room.  No matter how much I hated it, Leah was right; she was the only choice I had right then, and I was at her mercy.

 

    “Fine,” I said harshly, shaking my head.  “But I want to find them soon.  A week almost seems too long.”

 

    “Honey,” she laughed breathily.  “A week is hardly long enough to _track_ someone as elusive as this guy.  I’ll have to pull plenty of strings just to figure out what county he’s in, let alone where exactly.  I don’t know if you’re new to this game, but you have to realize it’ll take at least a month to pinpoint him.  Even then, we could miss him and have to start all over.”

 

    A breath escaped my lungs in a rush.  “Don’t miss him.”  I strode to the bedroom door.  “I’m getting my things.”  With that, I pushed out into the hallway, down the stairs, and out to my car.

 

    I was more worked up than I wanted to admit.  My anger pooled in the pit of my abdomen, poking at my insides and making me want to burst.  Leah got under my skin in ways no one else ever had, but I didn’t know why.  Maybe it had something to do with the fact that Jason had felt something for her.  Now, though, with everything that’s happened, shouldn’t my opinions of Leah at least be a little less hateful?  After all, she’d figured out how to steal from one of the most cruel and cunning people I’d ever known.  The only reason I could think of for being so annoyed was that I was having trouble seeing Jason exactly as he was — cruel and cunning.  That had to change.

 

    With every intention of making his name leave a sour taste on my tongue, I swung my duffel over my shoulder and slammed the car door.  Cooperating with Leah was probably one of my best bets in making that happen, both of us having a problem with him.  I imagined myself standing in front of Jason, gun pointed at him with the same amount of smugness he’d had when breaking into my house the first time.  My finger hovered over the trigger, but instead of pointing the barrel at his leg it was aimed at his chest.  I knew that even if the shot didn’t wound him fatally, the poison on my bullet would kill him before a full twenty-four hour period was up.  The power the situation would make someone feel was terrifying and exhilarating, as well as disgusting.

 

    My thoughts were interrupted as I stepped back into the house.  Leah had made her way to the kitchen and was pouring a glass of scotch.  Nose wrinkling, I walked past and back to the room I now had there.  My duffel was tossed on the bed and I changed into dark jeans, a light blue tee, and a black jacket.  I pulled my hair back into a high ponytail before inspecting myself in the bathroom mirror.  A tense feeling went through me when I realized these were clothes Jason had gotten me.  With a shiver, I walked to the closet and reluctantly picked out something of Leah’s.  White-wash jeans and a yellow blouse ended up on my body, along with a gray jacket I’d found in a drawer.  Jason’s clothes were stuffed in the corner of the closet, out of sight and out of mind.

 

    When I finally took a deep breath, tossed my gun in my duffel, and walked back to the main level, Leah was still at the counter with the glass of alcohol in her hand.  She nodded at me as I sat down across from her.

 

    “Those clothes look good on you.  I guess I did a good job.”

 

    “It’s not even five o’clock,” I said, ignoring her comment.  “You’re already drinking.”

 

    Leah shrugged.  “It’s probably five o’clock in Europe, or something.  It doesn’t matter, anyway.  I’ll probably drink more tonight.”  After raising my eyebrow, she elaborated.  “I’m going to a party.  I assume since you’re here, you’re coming with.”

 

    I snorted, incredulous.  “You want me to go to a party?  With you?”

 

    “It’ll get your mind off of things,” she reasoned.  She tapped the bottom of her glass against the countertop.  “Getting drunk always helps tune out the sound of betrayal and shame.”

 

    I had the sudden urge to hit her but managed to suppress it.  If this was going to work, I couldn’t let things — Leah, more specifically — get to me; but even so, drinking hardly seemed like the right thing to do in this situation.

 

    “I’ll have to pass,” I replied, moving to head back upstairs.  It felt odd to be in her house, but seeing as I had nowhere else to go, it was as good as any to shut myself up in my room.

 

    “I know it’s probably not the best form to tell a teenager to drink, but trust me when I say partying is better than brooding.”

 

    “That’s _your_ way of dealing with things,” I said, my back to her as I walked away.  “Mine is ‘brooding’.”

 

    “Don’t go all ‘woe is me’ on me, Phoebe,” Leah sighed.  “Things happen and people move on.  That’s how we survive in this world.”

 

    I spun suddenly.  “I know things _happen_ , Leah.  Things like Emmett dying just for the sake of Jason having fun; like Leo dying because Jason probably pissed Uriah off; like people almost killing my brother!  Please,” I added sarcastically.  “Forgive me if I don’t just forget or drink away everything I’ve been hit with today.”

 

    “I’m not asking you to forget,” she replied after a while.  Leah looked like she was considering her words carefully.  “In fact, it’s good that you remember — it makes revenge that much sweeter; but I _am_ asking you to just lay low for a while so everything can settle and we can figure out a way to go about this.”

 

    “And partying is the way to lay low?”

 

    She clucked her tongue.  “More or less.  At least at the ones I go to, you can get lost in the crowd without anyone knowing who you are or where you came from.”  She shifted on the stool she was sat upon.  “There’s a beauty to it, actually.  Once you get past all the coke whores and meth heads trying to get higher than heaven in every corner of the room.”

 

    I puffed out a long breath.  Given everything that’d happened so quickly, I figured I owed myself a distraction.  As long as I knew Sam was coming out of the ICU in a stable condition, I could at least breathe again.  Figuring the last place Jason would expect me to be was with Leah, and seeing as Tyler didn’t know who she was, I thought being confronted by them probably wouldn’t be an issue.

 

    “I’m not going to drink,” I said clearly, taking a step back toward the kitchen.  “I’m not going to smoke, or do drugs, or anything else.  I’m not here to be your party buddy.  I will be your pain-in-the-ass hangover headache if you so much as take a break from trying to lock down whoever went after my brother.  So I’m giving you tonight, but that’s it.”

 

    Leah laughed lightly, then turned her smug expression to look me dead in the eye.  “As long as you’re living under _my_ roof, _you’re_ not _giving me_ anything.  You don’t know anything about the guy you’re looking for, and since I’m the only one who does, we’re going to play by my terms.”  She stepped toward me slowly, her heels echoing against the floor in the open space.  “So you can view me as your pain-in-the-ass pimp who’s got you on a choke-chain, pulling as hard as I can until you gasp for breath, just short of what you’re looking for.  Tell me what to do in my house again, and I just might cut you off for good.”

 

    The fire in her eyes left me without words to voice a reply.  Leah was watching me carefully, almost daring me to say something more.  She had a certain level of power over me that I hated, but she was right in the sense that she basically owned me until she got what she wanted.  I wouldn’t stop until Sam was avenged and Leah knew it.  She also knew what kind of lengths I would go to for him and just how far she could push me.  Thinking better than to bite the hand that was going to feed me, my mouth remained shut and I only sent her a sharp look.

 

    “Good,” she smiled slyly.  “Now let’s go.”

 

    “What?”  My brow furrowed.  “It’s the middle of the afternoon.  Parties don’t start until dark.”

 

    “I never said where, exactly, it was,” came her high-voiced singsong answer as she brushed past me.  “We’re taking a road trip.”

 

 

••    ••    ••    ••    ••    ••    ••    ••    ••    ••    ••    ••    ••

 

 

    “Sacramento?” I questioned a full eight hours later as we pulled into an urban area on the edge of the city.  “Seriously?  We can’t drive back all in one night, Leah.”

 

    “Who said we had to?” she smiled at me as if I were a naive little kid.  “I have a condo here, pretty close to the city center.”

 

    My brow rose as I realized what this meant.  “That’s why you were in Oakland, isn’t it?  It’s only an hour and a half from here, and that’s how you heard Jason was back.”

 

    “I have a place in Oakland, too,” she replied nonchalantly.  “Also Palm Springs and Huntington Beach, if we’re naming them all.”

 

    “How the hell can you afford all that?”  We turned onto a street and I saw a good amount of people dancing on a front lawn down the block.  I could faintly hear music in the background, some cheaply remixed track.

 

    “I share them with my brother.  It’s a cooperative thing.  We split the living costs with the money our grandparents left us.  What?” she added jokingly after noticing I was staring blankly at her.  “Did you not think I could have siblings?”

 

    I shook my head.  “You just hadn’t mentioned him the whole drive up here.”

 

    “It’ll take a lot longer than an eight-hour drive to get to know me,” Leah said sarcastically.  “What we talked about — clothes, shoes, movies, boys — that’s only scratching the surface with me.  I’m not as shallow as you’d like to think.”

 

    Leah pulled the black Mustang we’d driven here up to the curb a few houses back.  She pulled the keys out of the ignition and swung onto the asphalt, and I stood up from the passenger’s side to meet her on the sidewalk.  The car’s lock slid into place behind us as I flicked my ponytail over my shoulder and attempted to keep up with Leah in the heels she’d pushed me into wearing.

 

    I had on the same outfit I’d changed into at Leah’s Poway house, with the addition of black heels that set me about three inches taller than normal.  She easily wore ones twice that height, but being new to this kind of shoe made it harder and more painful to walk than for her.  Taking a deep breath and carefully quickening my pace, I stuffed my phone in my jacket pocket.

 

    She stopped suddenly, looking up at the giant two-story house in front of us.  I could hear hoots and hollers from inside and gathered there was a fairly large supply of alcohol by looking at the people who’d been pushed outside.  The music was blaring, most likely about to be called in by an annoyed neighbor.  Leah laughed beside me.

 

    “Garrett’s outdone himself,” she said.  Casting a glance over at me, she nodded to the house.  “Let’s party.”

 

    It took a good five minutes to push past all of the bodies on the main level.  We’d made it to the middle and I spun, trying to get my bearings.  I was facing the left wall of the giant room with the back door ajar to my right.  The whole level was one singular room without walls.  Supports were scattered strategically throughout the area and were being used as stripper poles by girls almost too drunk to stand.

 

    “Classy,” I shouted over the noise at Leah, gesturing to the nearest girl.  The girl tried to bat her eyelashes at a guy who had his back to me, but only succeeded in looking like she had a twitch.  Another sip from the bottle of beer in her hand and she flung herself around the pillar.  “It’s not even ten-thirty.”

 

    “These people don’t give a shit about class,” Leah scoffed, pushing away another girl who’d stumbled into her.  “Believe me, I used to run around with a few of them.  All they care about are narcotics, beer, and sex.”

 

    My nose wrinkled and I followed Leah as she began pushing through people again.  I kept as close as possible, dodging flailing limbs and shattered bottles.  I could smell some kind of drug that had a better scent than marijuana yet still made my insides churn.

 

    The atmosphere of this party seemed different than any one I’d ever been to — more uncontrolled, more crowded.  Usually parties were used as a cover for dealers to get together and form alliances.  If that were the case tonight, I had no idea how many people needed this amount of cover.  By the following they brought, I imagined there were at least six or seven upstairs.

 

    I tired to shout up to Leah and ask where we were going but my words were drowned out by the sudden start of a loud song.  She made an abrupt movement to the right and I went to follow, but I ran straight into a large body.  I stumbled back and looked up to see a guy who seemed around twenty-five smiling lazily at me.

 

    “Hey,” he shouted, offering me the cup in his hand.  “I haven’t seen you around before.  Who are you?”

 

    “Leaving,” I replied, averting my eyes and stepping past him.  I called out to Leah, who had gotten to a staircase along the left wall, but my voice was cut off as a rough arm snaked around my waist.

 

    My back was tugged against the front side of a male.  The same one, I realized quickly, that I’d just tried to avoid.  My hands pushed against his hold, but even in his drunk stupor he was stronger than me.  My hands bawled into fists and I twisted, shoving him hard in the chest while striking the underside of his jaw.  He blinked as he was jarred back.  I pulled out of his grasp and strode back into the crowd, breathing heavily and increasingly uncomfortable amongst all of the people without Leah.

 

    I’d lost her, though I knew she’d probably gone upstairs.  It was just like her to leave me behind; we still had unresolved conflict from the first time we’d met, and I guess it was those feelings that compelled her to drop me off in a suffocating house, surrounded by druggies and horny drunks.  Elbowing my way through the crowd, I came closer and closer to the staircase she’d disappeared on.

 

    A waft of cooler air hit me as I stepped onto the stairs, quickly scanning my eyes through the people as I jogged up.  I brushed back a piece of hair that’d been too short to fit into my ponytail and gripped the handrail to prevent myself from falling in Leah’s heels, then finally stepped onto the upper level a few seconds later.

 

    The open area was about half the size of the lower level with rooms all along the outside.  Doors were both open and closed, nine in total — nine dealers, I assumed.  As I cast my eyes around the space, less dense in bodies, I couldn’t find Leah’s head of pitch-black hair.  I took a step forward and peeked into an open door.  Inside were a few chairs and a long table, a hard-set man sitting at the head with another standing beside him.  He looked about thirty, but I figured he was probably a couple years younger; dealing was a stressful job, and that fact was just one of many that aged a person mercilessly.

 

    I whipped my head up as Leah’s laugh caught in my ears.  Glancing across the hall, I saw her tall form leaning against the doorway of a room.  My immediate impulse was to march up to her and demand we leave, since I hadn’t really wanted to come in the first place, but I was curious as to who she was talking to and what about.  I was aware Leah had acquaintances that she used for her benefit, but the way she seemed to be speaking to whoever was in the room seemed like a friendship, rather than an ally.  Keeping my footsteps light, I inched up to the door.

 

    “You’ve changed, Garrett Thomson,” Leah said in a teasing voice.

 

    “So have you, L,” came a deep reply in the same playful tone.

 

    “A lot changes in a year.”  With that, she walked into the room and disappeared from sight again.  “I’d say I missed you, but with everything you’ve been up to it seems like you’ve hardly had time to miss me.”

 

    The man in the room chuckled as I neared the doorway.  I stopped just outside the frame as he gave a lighthearted reply.  “The only thing I’ve missed is your attitude.  Come here.”

 

    I peeked into the room as their conversation broke off and saw Leah and a tall man with short blonde hair and a thick build in an embrace.  When they separated after a few seconds, she held him at an arm’s length with her back to me.

 

    “I have to admit, I didn’t come back for sentimental purposes,” Leah said.

 

    “I should’ve known,” the man — Garrett — groaned jokingly.  “Even best friend perks don’t include a free pass from being used.”

 

    I could tell she rolled her eyes.  “Like you’re not used it.  You’ve used me plenty of times before.  I’m simply returning the favor for the last time.”

 

    “Fair enough.  What’s up?”

 

    She brushed hair from her face.  “I’m looking for someone.  He’s been a pain-in-the-ass to find before, and I don’t want to go through that headache again.”

 

    “Why look for him, then?”

 

    I had a feeling Leah was talking about the guy who’d gone after Sam.  Why this Garrett person would know where he was, I had no idea.  From the way she was talking about the guy, it seemed like she’d dealt with him before.

 

    “I have beef with him,” she answered passively.  “I’ve got a friend who does too, and she’s pretty set on finding him and kicking his ass into next year.”

 

    I scoffed quietly at her use of the term “friend” to describe our relationship.  My stomach dropped as I saw Garrett’s eyes flick to me, apparently too loud to remain undetected.

 

    He nodded in my direction.  “I’m assuming that’s her?”

 

    Leah turned around with her forehead pulled together.  I stepped into their full view and her face relaxed back into its bored, neutral phase.  She gave a nod and a little bit of the tension in my body dissipated — she hadn’t denied me.  Since they were friends, I didn’t think he’d try anything to hurt me.

 

    I was startled by the sudden appearance of two other men who’d been standing just inside the door.  They looked me up and down, then returned to their places.  Taking this as acceptance into the room, I stepped forward to just slightly enter.

 

    “You left me,” I said, crossing my arms.

 

    Garrett snorted.  “At least _that_ hasn’t changed about you,” he pointed his words at Leah.  “You never were one to wait around.”

 

    “Whatever,” she brushed me off, turning back to him.  “Can you help me find who I’m looking for?”

 

    He ran a hand over his jaw.  “I don’t really know who that is, now, do I?”

 

    Leah threw a fleeting glance at me.  “As soon as the name comes out of my mouth, she’s out the door.  I need her around.”

 

    “Does _she_ have a name?”  Garrett nodded in my direction.

 

    “Phoebe,” I said before Leah had the chance.

 

    His brow furrowed as she looked between us.  “Phoebe…  Lastings?  Sam’s sister?”  I gave a nod.  “Didn’t Jason kidnap you for almost three months?”

 

    My jaw and fists clenched.  Jason hadn’t _kidnapped_ me.  I’d given myself up for the sake of the people I loved.  I suppose the rest of the world hadn’t seen what was going on behind closed doors, so they couldn’t have known I was a threat to them in their own home.  People knew what Jason wanted them to know about us.  Evidently, he didn’t want them to know much — I was glad to say the same.  I was ashamed and infuriated with what I’d let happen, and was determined to flush it from my mind.

 

    Leah noticed my lack of a response paired with a tense expression and took over the conversation.  “She’s looking for the guy who went after her brother, who’s still in the hospital as we speak.  He screwed me over too — he’s a dead man walking.”

 

    “Sounds pretty serious.”  Garrett’s eyebrow rose.  “Too bad I still don’t know who it is.”

 

    She rolled her eyes.  “I just need to know if you’re in or not.  Will you give me information on this guy?”

 

    He studied Leah for a long moment.  “What’s in it for me?”

 

    I cursed inwardly.  Leah should’ve known she wouldn’t get help unless she had something to offer, and so far I hadn’t seen or heard of anything remotely useful to a powerful dealer.  I was silently hoping their friendship would be enough to provoke his helping hand, but obviously I’d been wrong.

 

    “Actually,” Leah said slyly.  “I have a nice little condo near Huntington Beach that has your name on it — as long as you agree to help.”

 

    He raised a hand to cover his heart, feigning emotional injury.  “You hit me with the nostalgia card.  Huntington Beach?  That’s low, L.”

 

    “Low enough to buy your services, I hope?”  She batted her eyes.  “For me?”

 

    “I’m at a complete disadvantage here.  I have no idea who this guy is, nor what kind of horrible things he could do to me if he finds out I’m tailing him.  You wouldn’t ask me unless you were sure I wasn’t going to get hurt, right?”

 

    Leah bit her lip.  I tried to tell her with my eyes to say “Of course, I would never hurt you” just for the sake of getting his help.  She hardly spared a glance in my direction before clasping her hands and smiling lightly, one of the first genuine expressions I’d seen her give.

 

    “You really think that badly of me, don’t you?  That I’d put anyone else in the way for the sake of my own safety?  I thought fourteen years of friendship would’ve shown you that I’m not that terrible.”

 

    “I’ve had a lot of people turn on me,” Garrett held up his hands.  “Can you really blame me for asking?”

 

    “No, I guess not.”  Finally, Leah spared the time to turn her head and lock eyes with me.  “She’s had people turn on her, and so have I.  That, we all have in common.”  She turned back to Garrett.  “Are you in?”

 

    He sighed with an eye roll.  “I swear, I’m going to regret this.”

 

    Leah broke into a giant smile.  “The condo is as good as yours.  You can stop by for the key–“

 

    “Keep your condo.”  His hand found her shoulder.  “You’ve helped me through more shitty times than I can count.  I’m repaying you, but only this once.  The next time you need something, you’re paying in cans of beer.”

 

    She laughed.  “Sounds like a plan.”

 

    Garrett let out a breath.  “Now that that’s out of the way, I have to ask how long you’re here.”

 

    “We’re in Sacramento just for the weekend.  Our next stop is Oakland for a day or so, then back to Poway.  Moving around is better than sitting in one place like an easy target, in case this guy finds out we’re looking for him.  He doesn’t particularly like being found.”

 

    My eyes narrowed at the back of Leah’s head.  She hadn’t told me we’d be gone for several days.  All I’d taken with me was my phone.  My gun was still sitting at her house in Poway, on the bed where I’d put it while changing.  Come to think of it, I hadn’t brought any clothing or more comfortable shoes either.  Leah hadn’t seemed to pack anything, which I caught on as meaning she had clothes at the rest of her houses around the state; but no matter how prepared _she’d_ been for this trip, it was still annoying she hadn’t told me.  For this to work, she was going to have to do more than just drag me around.

 

    “Let me know whenever you’re in the area,” Garrett told her, putting a hand on Leah’s shoulder.  “We’ll catch up, have a drink.”

 

    “Why are you talking to me like one of us is leaving?” she snorted.

 

    “Well, _I’m_ leaving,” he laughed lightly.  “I have things to take care of, asses to beat.”

 

    Leah put on her best pouting face.  “Unfortunate.”

 

    He wrapped a muscular arm around her shoulder.  “Don’t act so sad.  Admit it, you hardly missed seeing my face.”

 

    She hinted at a smile.  “You should get going.”  A hand reached up to pat his chest.  “Like you said, you have ‘asses to beat’.”

 

    “Robby, go start up the car,” Garrett said to one of the men standing near the door.  The man nodded and left before Garrett turned to the other.  “Go tell Max it’s time to go.”  Another few seconds, and he was gone as well.

 

    “I’ll call you with the name tomorrow,” Leah told Garrett as he stepped away from her.  He brushed past me and turn in the doorframe.

 

    “See you soon,” he said, more of a question than a statement.  Leah only smiled, which he returned and then left.

 

    I turned to Leah.  “You didn’t tell me we’d be gone for _days_ at a time.”

 

    She shrugged, looking indifferent.  “Does it really matter?”

 

    “Of course it matters,” I snapped.  “My brother is still in Poway, stuck in the hospital without knowing I even stopped by.  I should be there!”

 

    “What’s more important to you, then?” she asked pointedly, walking toward me slowly.  “Getting the revenge you crave for you brother; sending a bullet through the head of the man who put him there in the first place?  Or would you rather be somewhere you could not only be found out by the guy we’re trying to track silently, but be questioned relentlessly by your boyfriend — your _first_ one, that is — about what the hell happened when you were away.  Don’t forget that as of today, Jason is there, too.”

 

    My jaw clenched.  “The least you could’ve done was tell me, so I could’ve come prepared.”

 

    “I have clothes at every house,” she said dismissively.

 

    “What about my gun?” I questioned, annoyed.  “I highly doubt you’ve got a few just lying around.”

 

    When Leah stepped past me she flicked her hair.  “Weren’t you raised _not_ to use a gun, being part of Markus’s group and all?  Whatever, that’s beside the point.”  She spun on a heel to face me, pressing her hands to either side of the doorframe.  “I’m always prepared.  And you’re right, they’re not just lying around.  I’m smarter than you give me credit for, Phoebe.”

 

    “I’d give you a little more credit if you’d actually stop to tell me what’s going on.”

 

    “You know what you signed up for,” she sighed with an eye roll, then moved out into the main area of the upper level.

 

    “Actually, I don’t,” I shot back, following.

 

    Without looking back, she waved her hand at me.  “We’ve been over this, so I don’t know why it hasn’t gotten through your thick skull.  _Yes you do_.  I give you the name and we’ll go after him together —  _after_ you’ve fulfilled the purpose I’ve given you.”

 

    My teeth ground together.  “What would that purpose be?”

 

    “I haven’t decided on one thing just yet,” came her reply as she neared the stairs, the hint of a smile laced through her words.  “Maybe I’ll have you do a few things.”

 

    I shook my head.  “Why are you doing this, Leah?  Why string me along when you have no actual intention of helping me get what I want?”

 

    She stopped, her back still to me.  “I have every intention of getting you what you want, because it’s also what I want.  You’re useful, Phoebe.  That’s why I need your help.  I don’t want to waste an opportunity by being considerate.”

 

    “You don’t need my help,” I scoffed.  “You have plenty of allies, and strong ones from the look of it.  Why not just ask one of them to put some muscle into whatever it is you need done?”

 

    Her head cocked to the side so I could see half of her face.  The corners of her mouth twitched upward.  “Because some things are just meant for ladies to do.”

 

    Before I could say anything else, Leah ducked down the staircase and any words that left my mouth would’ve been lost in the blaring drone of the music.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 **Aaaaaand, we're back!  Thank you so much for waiting patiently, I really appreciate it.**  
  
Something I've decided to add in the story may lift your spirits... Jason's perspective!  
  
Yes!  Since Phoebe and Jason were almost always near each other in Empty Bargains, I didn't see a reason to add in his perspective.  But since they will obviously remain separate for a time in this story, I will be adding small blips of his view here and there.  It won't be anything long, as I still want the element of surprise on my side.  
  
Anyway, let me know what you think of the way this first chapter went!  I can definitely feel that I'm going to love this story, and I hope you do too.  
  
Thank you for all your support  
  
Xx  
  



	2. ~11.29...J~

**Jason's POV**  
  
  
    “Fuck!” I shouted, throwing my fist at the wall.  I winced as pain shot up my arm, but it was nothing compared to the hollow feeling consuming my chest.

 

    How the hell could I have been so stupid?

 

    I shook my now bleeding hand out and closed my eyes tightly, rubbing my temples as I began to pace.  Phoebe had slipped through my fingers twice in the same twenty-four hour span.  I’d just come back from a run with Carter and Lucas when I realized there was no one in the house.  It was then that I remembered hearing about Phoebe’s brother being hospitalized, and how I’d conveniently left it out of all conversations because I knew she’d want to leave.  After a long string of cursing, my first thought was that Leo had taken her to Poway and skipped out on his meeting with Uriah’s guys.  That thought was lost soon after a blaring car horn sounded in front of the house and Lucas had opened the door to find Leo, dead, on the front porch.  I wasted no time in getting in the car and heading for Poway, hoping with everything in me that she was there instead of with Uriah or dead.

 

    Tyler pushed past me and toward the stairs at the end of the hall.  I knew he was trying to catch Phoebe and a form of anger I’d never felt stirred inside me.  He couldn’t win her over, not while I was still here.  Though I knew she probably hated me for everything I’d kept from her, I also knew that somewhere under that she loved me.  She had to, because I loved her too.

 

    I’d barely made it a step before I felt a heavy hand on my shoulder.  I spun, arm poised to strike out if I needed, but was caught off guard when a faster fist connected with the side of my face.  Grunting in pain, my bleeding hand raising to cover where I’d been struck.  My feet stumbled over themselves as I tried to regain my balance, only to be hit again with a force that shoved me into a wall.

 

    “Why are you here?” snapped a harsh voice.  I blinked the fuzziness out of my vision and found myself staring up at Markus Lebber.  “Did you really have the gall to show up after everything you’ve done?”

 

    “Fuck off,” I spat, beginning to taste blood.  My body shifted and I stood, steadying myself against the wall.

 

    His fist balled in my shirt.  “You have five seconds to tell me what you’re doing here before I kill you with my bare hands.”

 

    “Gentlemen!”

 

    The stern voice of a middle-aged nurse came from the other end of the hallway.  She was striding toward us with a face mask around her neck.  Markus reluctantly let go of me as she approached, looking furious.

 

    “I’m going to have to ask you to leave,” she snapped, “if you can not compose yourselves like normal human beings.  This is a hospital, and most patients don’t appreciate the extra noise you are causing.  We will not tolerate physical violence of any kind, and any more will result in your immediate expulsion from the facility.  Have I made myself clear?”

 

    Markus’s glare focused on me, but he gave a small “yes”.  I did the same, and crossed my arms as the annoyed nurse marched away.  The muscles in Markus’s arms twitched as if he were going to reach out again, but I knew he wouldn’t out of his obligation to stay with Sam Lastings.

 

    “Why are you here?” he repeated.

 

    “I think I made myself clear of that,” I said sharply, knowing he’d heard every word I’d said to Phoebe and every word she’d said to me.

 

    “And I think Phoebe made it clear that she doesn’t want you here,” he shot back.  “Not one of us wants you here either.  You need to leave.”

 

    Phoebe had probably already left the building and was driving away in whatever vehicle had taken her here.  There was no point in staying in this place that reeked of antiseptic and hopelessness.  But was there any point in trying to reach Phoebe?  Her words had rattled me to my core.

 

     _Even if I did, I can’t._

 

    I winced and pushed away from Markus, not looking back as I shoved myself into the stairwell Tyler had disappeared down.  Come to think of it, maybe she was with him.  I wouldn’t have been surprised, given she’d found out about the Gravings kid.  Dammit, if only I’d have known I would feel this way about her — never would I have hurt her in this way.

 

    After kicking open the stairwell door with an angry clatter, my feet carried me out the front entrance and into the parking lot.  The sun shone down brightly, causing me to have to squint to see anything.  Rushed breaths made my chest rise and fall heavily while I strode to where I’d hastily parked my pickup.  Just as I pulled the keys out of my pocket and unlocked the vehicle, I was blindsided by a heavy fist.

 

    “What the fuck!” I shouted, regaining my balance against my truck.

 

    “What the fuck do you think?” came a reply halfway between anger and panic.  It was Tyler.

 

    I ran a hand over my face and stood taller.  “Don’t touch me.”

 

    “Don’t touch my girlfriend!” he shot back, shoving my shoulders.

 

    Swatting his hands away, I shot him a glare.  Phoebe had broken every tie she had with him the moment we slept together.  She wasn’t his girlfriend; she was _mine_.  At least, she had been until she’d walked away.  Now I didn’t know what was going on.

 

    “Go home,” I brushed him off.

 

    “Why don’t you!  Disappear like you did a month ago and don’t show your face here again.  Your time here is over, you piece of shit!”

 

    My jaw clenched so hard I thought my teeth would shatter.  Without thinking I balled my fist and threw it at Tyler’s head, catching him just under his jaw and sending him spinning several feet back.  How dare he tell me what to do in my own territory?  Just because I wasn’t here didn’t mean I’d given up my ownership.

 

    The fire in Tyler’s eyes as he turned on me should’ve shaken me — but it didn’t.  As he spun and came at me I reached for the handgun at the small of my back.  The safety clicked off and I lifted it to his chest, finger poised to pull the trigger.  He stopped dead, his rage turning to surprise, then to a cautious hatred.

 

    “Take another step, I dare you,” I snapped, holding my ground.  I could feel the places I’d been hit pulsing with blood, bruises probably already forming.

 

    “You’re sick, McCann.”  Tyler bared his teeth like a cornered animal.

 

    I gave a bitter laugh.  “As soon as Sam is out of the hospital, stay in your territory.  You’re all lucky you’re not dead right now.”

 

    “And why is that?” he questioned.  “Because you care about Phoebe, and killing us would hurt her?”

 

    “Fuck off,” I spat.  I waved the gun to the right.  “Go.”

 

    “ _You_ go, asshole!  You left!  This place is ours, now!”

 

    I pointed the gun’s barrel to the ground at his feet and pulled the trigger.  A shot rang out, leaving my hand vibrating and Tyler screaming profanities.  The concrete was chipped where the bullet had hit, a warning that I meant business.

 

    “On second thought,” I said in a mock-contemplative tone.  “Get your guys and get out.  Sam can heal on his own.  If I see any of your faces in my territory again, I won’t hesitate to pull the trigger.”

 

    I yanked open the door to my pickup.  My arm dropped to my side and Tyler and I were left sending each other looks that could kill.  I didn’t care; obviously Phoebe wasn’t with him, so he wasn’t worth my time.  Supposedly this might’ve been a good thing, seeing as I hadn’t completely lost her.  But maybe the only reason she wasn’t with him was her guilt of what’d happened with me…  Did she regret everything?

 

    The only option I had was to steel myself.  This had happened before — I’d been left, and it felt like hell had rained down on me.  I lied to Phoebe when I told her I’d kicked Leah out, trying to show her I wasn’t concerned with what’d happened in the past.  And at that point, I wasn’t.  I didn’t think Phoebe and I would be separated; but now we were, and there was no way in hell I would fall back into the pit I had been in for more than a month.

 

    I was almost almost positive I’d lost her.  How could I not have, given everything I’d lied about?  She wouldn’t come back, and the realization hit me like a train — but I wouldn’t let it show, not again.  I would get over it, show her like I’d just shown her boyfriend that I meant business.  I wasn’t here to fuck around anymore.

 

    “You can’t do that,” Tyler sneered.  “You have no power anymore.”

 

    “Like hell I don’t,” I nearly hissed.  There was a short moment of silence before I straightened and looked him straight in the eye.  “Tell your guys I’m back — and I’m here to stay.”


	3. ~12.02~

    We were on the road again, headed toward Oakland.  I was hit by the painful realization that I’d been here not four days ago, probably as happy as I’d ever been while with Jason.  The thought was intimidating and sickening now that I knew that Emmett was dead and Jason had killed him.  How could he have even looked me in the eye and told me he loved me when he _knew_ one of my family members’ blood was on his hands?

 

    “I think you should turn that on,” Leah said, jarring me from my thoughts.  She nodded at the phone in my lap.  “There’s no use in avoiding them forever.”

 

    I looked down at it, still turned off from the time I’d first arrived at Leah’s house in Poway.  Not wanting to have to read messages from Tyler telling me to come home, I’d been promptly avoiding the power button.  My guilt ran too deep _without_ him knowing about what’d happened between Jason and I, but now that he’d found out I didn’t think I could bare to speak to him.  How could I?

 

    “Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Leah huffed after my lack of response.  Her hand snatched up the cell before I could register what she was doing, and soon the screen was lit up and loading.

 

    I cursed at her and plucked it from her hands, throwing it face down on my legs and leaning my head against the window.  Urban areas were starting to pop up and I guessed we only had another twenty minutes before we were in downtown Oakland.  Being near Leah was getting suffocating, though she’d been running around most of the weekend to meet Garrett and a few other names I’d forgotten by then.  There hadn’t been a conversation shared that didn’t include snide remarks or heavy eye rolls.

 

    “There’s no use in letting a message or two have power over you,” she said.  After a grunt from my throat she said, “You’ll thank me for that later.”

 

    I doubted it, but turned my head and stared out the window as my phone began to vibrate.  Wincing at every new message, I tried to focus on the low noise of the radio.  It was midday, but the sunlight was being pushed away by dark rainclouds.  The beginnings of a downpour were starting to drop on the windshield, causing Leah to flip the wipers on impatiently.

 

    “Who are we going to see?” I asked, further trying to distract myself.

 

    “Her name is Bailey Ferris,” she answered.  “One of Garrett’s friends.  She’s our first lead to the guy we’re after.”

 

    “And what are the odds of her being where Garrett said she was?”  I squeezed the brim of my nose.

 

    Leah hummed.  “I’d say pretty high.  She can’t really go anywhere.”

 

    My forehead pulled together.  “What is that supposed to mean?”

 

    She shrugged.  “She’s a prostitute.  The cheap-motel-room-indebted-to-a-pimp kind of girl.”

 

    My nose wrinkled.  “Oh.”

 

    “We all have to live somehow.”

 

    The rest of the drive was silent.  Twenty minutes after the last words had escaped Leah’s mouth, she pulled into a condominium complex parking ramp.  The complex was on the nice side of the city, which meant there weren’t any holes in the side of the building or sections where paint had been stripped from the woodwork.  A once-over of the place had proven that it was a fairly nice place to live, considering the surrounding neighborhoods.  I couldn’t help the realization that this was only a mile or two away from Jason’s Oakland house…

 

    “Come on,” came Leah’s impatient tone from outside the car.

 

    I pushed myself out of the passenger’s side and joined her in the walk toward the elevator.  Our footsteps echoed through the mainly empty space, most likely deserted because it was a Monday and people were working.  Leah hit the “up” button a few seconds later, and soon we were on our way to the fifth floor.

 

    “I don’t know how clean the place is,” she admitted after a few seconds.  “The last time I was here, I left in somewhat of a hurry.”

 

    “For someone who’s only twenty-one, you move around a hell of a lot.”

 

    “Like I said, we all have to live somehow.”

 

    The elevator doors slid open and I stepped out behind her.  Leah led us down a hall and to the left, glancing at the room numbers until she reached “524”.  A key was drawn out of her pocket and stuck into the lock, and soon we were standing inside the threshold of her flat.  My jaw went slack.

 

    Had it been in pristine condition like all of her other homes, the expanse in front of me would’ve been beautiful.  A wall with floor-to-ceiling windows stood in front of us, followed by a tan leather sectional and a black coffee table.  A flatscreen hung on the right wall over a mock-fireplace and was framed by two thin nature portraits, and on the wall opposite that stood a large bookshelf.  The three rooms and one bathroom branching off from this one would’ve caught more of my attention, had it not been for the multiple dirty plates and half-empty glasses sitting on and around the sectional.  Random assortments of clothing were scattered around the floor, and the modern kitchen to my right smelled of spoiled milk.

 

    “This is disgusting,” I said, a general revelation rather than anything pointed at Leah.

 

    “Well, we have two choices,” she announced.  “We can either clean it up for a few hours, or we can leave it and hope we can catch Bailey before she starts working.”

 

    “Working,” I repeated sarcastically.  “I can’t stay in this, let alone leave when I know I’ll only have to come home to it later.  We’re cleaning this _now_.”

 

    “Be my guest,” Leah snorted.  She walked past me and set her purse on the counter.

 

    I let out a long breath, trying not to choke on the stale smell of the place.  Leah began stepping on trash to get to what I assumed was the master bedroom.  When she disappeared through the doorway I turned and shuffled into the kitchen area.  After sliding my phone — which I still hadn’t looked at — into the front pocket of my jeans, I ran a hand through my hair and opened the refrigerator.  I was hit with the spoiled milk scent I’d smelled when first walking in, but it was much stronger than I’d anticipated.  My eyes closed and I gagged, thinking of the flash of moldy fruits and leftovers I’d seen as well.

 

    “When was the last time you said you were here?” I shouted to Leah, closing the heavy fridge door.

 

    “I didn’t,” she called back.  “If you must know, it was about five months ago.”

 

    A chill ran up my spine.  “I don’t even know where — or how — to start here.  I can’t just throw all this food in the trashcan.”

 

    “Take it to the big bin downstairs,” she replied, poking her head back into the room.  “People throw random shit in there all the time.”

 

    I gave her a heavy eye roll.  “This is _your_ condo.  Why aren’t you helping me?”

 

    “Because it’s _your_ choice to be bothered by the mess.”  She flicked her hair behind her shoulders.  “I’m completely fine with it.  We won’t be here long anyway.”

 

    “Whatever,” I scoffed.  Leah vanished from sight again, thinking our conversation was over.

 

    Shaking my head, I reopened the refrigerator door.  Doing my best not to puke, I grabbed a trash bag from a cabinet under the sink and began dropping the contents of the fridge into it.  Nothing was salvageable, so the entire inside was cleared out when I finally tied the bag shut.  I figured it was best to clear out the freezer as well so nothing could go bad in there.  Another bag was pulled from under the sink and a few boxes of frozen items made their way into it.

 

    Leah was humming in the other room doing who-knew-what, so I assumed she wouldn’t mind if I left to take the bags downstairs.  I didn’t know exactly where the trash bin was but I could find out when I got in the general vicinity.  The bags and I slipped out the door and into the hallway.

 

    It took about a minute to arrive on the ground floor, even with a few stops of the elevator.  I’d received several strange looks with the spoiled smell of the two bags, but ignored them.  The parking ramp proved to be a better environment, seeing as there were no people.  The large bin, just like I’d assumed, was set in an alcove of concrete toward the back corner of the space.  I approached it and tossed the lighter of the two bags in, then stooped to grip the other.  A grunt of exertion escaped my throat while my arms lifted and my hold slipped on the bag, causing my elbow to knock the cellphone out of my pocket as the bag teetered over the edge and into the bin.

 

    I sighed and looked down at it, screen lit as it lay face up on the ground.  Several message notifications glared up at me and I fought the urge to kick it across the expanse of parked cars.  Leah had said I’d thank her for turning it on; I was set on proving her wrong.  Looking at the messages would only make me feel worse, not better — so I did exactly that.

 

    My hand punched in the code to unlock it and I stood up from my crouch, leaning against the bin as I read the first of the messages.  Three on the list were from Tyler.  I swallowed hard.

 

     _Please tell me you’re okay.  Where did you go?_

 

_I’m sorry I didn’t message you.  If I’d have known you had your phone…_

 

_What is going on, Phoebe?_

 

My chest tightened and I closed my eyes, guilt flooding through me.  Tyler was caught in the middle of everything that was happening right now — Sam being attacked, Jason coming back, my fling with Jason, my running off…  He didn’t deserve this, despite everything I’d thought about him while with Jason.  In all reality, everything I’d thought and felt with Jason had been a lie.  I didn’t know him, not really, and to say I could love him after everything was laughable.  Why was it that I couldn’t find the humor in my stupidity?

 

    The last message was from Peter.  My bottom lip was taken between my teeth as I read it.

 

     _I don’t know where you are, but I trust you’re safe.  Sam is recovering well and is conscious.  Tyler told him you came, and he says he’s glad you’re out.  Everyone is fine._

 

I sighed.  My fingers danced above the screen for a long while before finally finding the courage to send a reply.

 

     _I’m okay.  How is everything?_

 

It was simple and unfitting for the current state of the relationship between my group and I.  I didn’t really want to know about everything, but I hoped Pete would understand what I meant.  My feet carried me up and down a short stretch of concrete as I waited for the answer that came five minutes later.

 

     _Markus, Tyler and I are fine.  We haven’t been able to go back and see Sam.  Trying to figure out a way._

 

My brow furrowed.

 

     _What do you mean you haven’t been able to?_

 

_Jason is back._

 

My stomach twisted.  This wasn’t necessarily a reason, but given everything, Jason being back in Poway wasn’t really a good thing.

 

     _So?_

 

_The hospital is in his territory.  We can’t get there without being killed.  He’s got eyes everywhere._

 

My jaw went slack as a sinking feeling settled in my abdomen.  He wasn’t letting them see my brother.  Jason wasn’t letting Sam see the people he needed most.  Rage stemmed in me and soon I let out a shout of anger, throwing my phone at the side of the bin.

 

    Could Jason ever stop?  Would he go to no end to cross me?  Of course he would.  He’d killed Emmett and could look me in the eye countless times after the fact.  Jason had no problem going behind my back and certainly had no concern for anyone else.  This was personal.  No one screwed with my family and got away with it.

 

    I picked up my phone, cursing under my breath when I saw a few cracks running up the side of the screen.  My jaw clenched as I chose to ignore it.

 

     _He won’t get away with that.  I’ll fix this, Pete.  I promise._

 

I marched back to the elevator and pushed the button for Leah’s floor roughly.  Peter’s reply buzzed in my hand a few seconds after the doors slid closed.

 

     _It’s better for you to stay where you are for now.  Things need to calm down.  Sam is fine, I promise.  He’s strong._

 

_I’m not going to sit on my ass and let Jason screw us over again!_

 

_If you come back, Tyler won’t let you leave._

 

His message made me stop for a moment.  I shook my head, trying to keep my anger at Jason flowing.

 

     _I’m going to make this up to you.  All of you.  I promise._

 

_I know you will.  Just don’t get yourself hurt._

 

The doors slid open and I pushed the cell into my back pocket, then headed for Leah’s condo.  I opened the door and heard the sound of running water.  Leah was humming to herself as she showered in the master bathroom, and I chose to ignore it while I pulled another trash bag from underneath the sink.  A majority of the spoiled, stale smell had disappeared with the first two bags, and I was satisfied to be in at least withstand-able working conditions.  I opened a few cabinets and pushed the food into the trash bag waiting below.

 

    After filling the bag with the remaining contents of the kitchen, I grabbed another and began going through the condo for any and all trash.  Just the living room filled up a bag, and the master bedroom filled another.  By the time I had only one room left, Leah was out of the shower and I had four bags waiting to be taken to the large bin.

 

    The condo had actually started to look like the nice, sophisticated place I’d imagined it to be.  Leah didn’t seem to fit the part, just as she hadn’t seemed to in any of her other homes.  With her face all done up, a towel wrapped around her head, a loose-fitting white blouse, and tight maroon jeans, she looked more modern and hip than this traditional-feeling area.

 

    “What was even happening before you left so suddenly?” I asked as she strolled into the kitchen and leaned her elbows on the counter.  “This place was trashed.”

 

    “A party got a little out of hand,” she said casually.  “There were illegal drugs involved, as well as loud music and a few people that liked to vandalize public property.  The cops snuffed us out, and as I am the owner of this place, the blame would’ve automatically been placed on me.  You understand why I can’t have that kind of obligation to stay in one place for a long period of time.  Jail isn’t really my thing.”

 

    “Jail isn’t really _anyone’s_ thing,” I mumbled, tying a full trash bag shut.

 

    “My point exactly,” she hummed, then turned and opened the fridge door.  “Nothing to eat.”

 

    “Everything went bad,” I told her incredulously.  “When you leave for six months, things tend to start to stink.”

 

    Leah shrugged.  “Whatever.  We can find something on the way to Bailey.”

 

    I lugged the trash bag where I’d put the others, next to the door.  I brushed off my hands and leaned against the wall.  “I need you to clear out the last room.”  When her expression filled with disgust I rolled my eyes.  “Oh, please.  It’s not even that bad.  I’ve cleaned everything else up, and if you do this, I won’t even make you wipe down every surface.”

 

    She flipped her head over and shook her wet hair out, letting the towel drop to the floor.  Her locks looked even darker when they were damp.

 

    After standing back up and glancing around the room, she huffed.  “Fine.”

 

    I gave her a small, thankful smile.  That was the extent of the pleasantries we’d been able to exchange with each other thus far.  I turned and left the room, heading for the closet in the master bedroom.  Wearing her clothes had seemed repulsive at first, but I’d realized that she actually had a modest side to her wardrobe.  I picked out a pair of dark skinny jeans and a air-y lilac blouse after selecting a mismatched pair of undergarments.  A quick look around the room revealed that the show was set on the far left, and I headed there.

 

    Whether I wanted to admit it or not, Leah was beginning to grow on me.  I still didn’t like her, nor did I trust her, but at least her company was slightly more bearable than it had been my first day back in Poway.  Those few days with her and all of our travel had given us a lot of time to talk about really everything, and though we disagreed on a multitude of subjects, it gave me a little insight into what kind of person she was.  Leah wasn’t nearly as shallow as I’d originally thought, nor was she as stupid or dramatic.  But even though I could see these surface qualities, I had yet to figure out what her past really was like.  All I knew for sure about her was that she’d had a fling with Jason almost a year ago — which had created a sort of bond between us, however reluctant, knowing that we had a mutual abhorrence for him.  This wasn’t enough to satisfy my nerves, especially since she seemed to know things about my group that — at least to my knowledge — had not become public just yet.

 

    I chose not to think about it as I washed myself quickly, then climbed out of the shower and dried off.  My reflection in the mirror as I dressed was tired and strained, just like I felt.  I hadn’t been getting much sleep at night, even with the extra time I’d been given.  More than six hours at this point was a blessing, and the lack thereof was causing me to become more lenient and willing to do what Leah said, just to avoid argument.  Worrying about Sam and Tyler on top of trying to find hatred for Jason was also creating an added stressor, but I wouldn’t let that pull down the mission I’d set myself on — find the guy who’d gone after Sam, then deal with Jason.

 

    “Are you done yet?” Leah’s voice called through the door.  I sighed as I stepped up to the counter and began applying a thin line of eyeliner.

 

    “Give me five,” I said.  When no further complaint was heard, I continued and soon joined her in the kitchen as I scrunched mousse into my hair.  Leah hair was already almost dry and fell in effortless waves to her waist.  I rose my eyebrow at her before taking my phone from the counter and sliding it into my pocket.  “Did you clear out the last room?”

 

    She gestured to a new trash bag next to the pile, half full and sloppily tied shut.  “Happy?”

 

    I gave her a slight grin.  “To see you pull a little weight?  Of course.”

 

    Leah made a point of rolling her eyes.  “Let’s just go.  We have a prostitute to interrogate.”

 

 

••    ••    ••    ••    ••    ••    ••    ••    ••    ••    ••    ••    ••

 

 

    After stopping at some glorified fast-food place Leah insisted we eat at, we maneuvered around the city until pulling in front of a subtle and fairly worn-down motel on the edge of the industrial side of town.  The sign above the entrance was illegible and the parking lot’s cement was cracked and pulled up in haphazard places.  All around, it looked like a place that could be scheduled for demolition at any point in time.  I could only assume this was where several prostitutes, and not just Bailey, called their regular business spot.

 

    Leah parked the furthest away from the entrance as she could and shut off the engine.  By now there was a steady drizzle coming from the clouds overhead, causing us to shield our heads on the run in from the parking lot.  Leah was fussing with her already good-looking hair, while I simply threw it over my shoulder and took in the appearance of the main lobby.

 

    The ceiling was pretty low, hardly leaving enough head room for the light fixtures that hung down from it.  Wallpaper was peeling all around the room, showing an ugly green color from underneath and diverting from the pastel floral pattern of the covering layer.  There was no far wall, only a wide staircase that led to the second floor and branched off to lead to the third.  The dark carpet underfoot needed a good cleaning, as well as a thorough stain removal in multiple places.  Sad-looking furniture sat in a sloppy arrangement in the middle of the floor, and a shabby front desk was off to the left.  Behind it sat a woman who looked like she’d done her fair share of meth and other hallucinogenic drugs, reading an old magazine and holding a cigarette to her lips.  Leah huffed out a breath and began marching over to her.

 

    “We’re here to see Bailey Ferris,” she said, placing her palms flat against the desk.  For a second I thought about saying Leah was being too forward with what we needed, but the second the young woman answered I knew she wasn’t oblivious to what went on here.  Maybe she was even in on it?

 

    “Her rate is fifty dollars for every ten minutes,” the lady croaked, looking at Leah in the corner of her eye.  She seemed bored.

 

    Leah scoffed.  “I didn’t come to get in her pants.  I need to talk to her.”

 

    The lady shrugged.  I tried looking for a name tag, but couldn’t find one on her uniform.  “No one is allowed in the room until they’ve agreed to the price.”  She glanced in my direction and gave me a once-over.  “It’ll be double for the two of you.”

 

    “As if,” Leah snorted.  She turned to dig in her purse and pulled out a roll of cash.  A fifty dollar bill was placed on the counter, and I wondered if she’d been expecting to have to pay for Bailey’s time.  “I just want ten minutes with her.  Without snooty, over here.”  A gesture pointed at me.

 

    I narrowed my eyes and crossed my arms.  It was beginning to make me angry that Leah felt the need to be so secretive around me.  She couldn’t talk about hardly anything surrounding who had hurt my brother, as if I’d run away the second I caught wind of who’d done it.  Granted, she was mostly right, but I needed to find the guy before I even thought about exacting my revenge.  Plus, her nicknames for me were getting annoying.

 

    The lady behind the desk glanced at a digital clock beside her.  “She’s with a client right now.  Should be done in a few minutes.”  A poorly-manicured hand reached out to grab the bill Leah had placed between them.

 

    I repressed the urge to vomit as Leah and I walked to the furniture in the middle of the lobby.  It was mostly silent aside from the huffing of the lady behind the front desk as she dragged on her cigarette.  Leah sat across from me and was tapping her nails against her cell phone loudly.  I found myself staring at her hand, vision moving in and out of focus as a short burst of exhaustion flooded over me.

 

    “If everything goes according to plan,” she said absently.  “We should have a pretty good lead on where this guy is.”

 

    A pause.  “Why would she know where he is?”

 

    “Garrett said he was a pretty regular customer a while back,” she replied, beginning to twiddle her thumbs.  “Disgusting, yes, but as least it gives us a way to track his movements.”

 

    “What makes you so sure he’ll move around to the same places like you?”

 

    “One can only move so many times before they develop a pattern,” she said matter-of-factly.  “He’s been at it a while, so I can only assume — and hope, just a little bit — that he returns to the same place.  With any luck, he’ll have stopped by here, for Bailey specifically, recently.”

 

    “It just doesn’t seem like–“

 

    My words were interrupted by a well-dressed middle-aged man walking clumsily down the staircase with his jacket slug over his shoulder, shirt wrinkled, and shoes tied together to hang around his neck.  He looked flustered and smug at the same time, passing by without so much as a nod of acknowledgement in our direction.  Just like that, he was out the door and gone.

 

    The lady behind the front desk cleared her throat pointedly.  “Bailey’s open now.  Room two-fifty-one.”

 

    Leah gave an eye roll and stood up dramatically.  She spun on her three-inch heels and marched toward the staircase, leaving me sitting at the furniture.  I was about to say something before words followed a glance over her shoulder.

 

    “I’ll be back soon.  Don’t get your panties in a bunch.”

 

    Leaving me no room to say anything more, she climbed up and turned to the right, disappearing from my vision.  I huffed and looked around the lobby again, taking in the worn and boring features I’d already grown bored of.  Counting the minutes because I had nothing better to do, I realized Leah had been gone for only about four when she reappeared.

 

    “Let’s go,” she said quickly, not stopping to wait before brushing past me and moving toward the front doors.

 

    “Wait — Leah,” I stuttered, standing up and attempting to jog after her in the heels I’d mistakenly worn.  “What did she say?  What happened?”

 

    Her reply never came while we pushed outside and ducked our heads in the rain.  We jogged to the car and threw ourselves into it, a tense silence forming as Leah ignited the engine and threw the car into reverse.  A glance over made me realize she was angry, as if her jerky driving wasn’t enough of a clue; but at what?  Had this Bailey girl said something?

 

    “What’s going on?” I asked forcefully.  I didn’t like riding in a car with an angry person, especially someone like Leah whose temper was aggressive and unpredictable.  She gave me a long silence, but finally answered as she pulled off onto a side road.  He voice was shaking, whether with anger or angst I had no idea.

 

    “Remember when I told you I needed you to do a few things for me?” Leah said, more a statement than a question.  “Well, I’ve found one.”

 

    When she left it at that, I rose an eyebrow.  “Care to elaborate?”

 

    “Here,” she said instead, pushing her phone into my hand.  After doing so, her fingers dug into her pocket and pulled out a slip of paper that she gave me as well.  “Type in this address.”

 

    My brow pulled together at the instructions but I put the destination into her phone.  A location came up and I selected it, starting directions leading us twenty minutes north.  I saw a mount for a cellphone just above the radio and pushed it into place, where it told her to turn left in a few blocks.  Casting sideways glances at her for a few minutes, I finally opened my mouth.

 

    “What did Bailey tell you?” I asked quietly.  I didn’t know what could’ve gotten her this fired up, especially because she was more the type that got passive aggressive and snotty when she was angry.  Anything that could bring out this side of her probably wasn’t good.

 

    She stared at the road in front of her a long time before answering.  “Bailey’s gotten herself weaved in way too deep with this pimp that’s holding a noose taught around her neck.  Not only does she work for him — most of the time without stopping — but she’s also one of his most ‘trusted’,” Leah paused to laugh, “whores.  Bailey hears things.  Shitty, disgusting things; other than when she’s with her clients, of course.”

 

    Leah paused as she came to a stop at a traffic light.  The other streams of traffic weaved in front of us for a minute or two before she accelerated and kept going on the route the cellphone provided.

 

    “Of course, when I first came in she seemed surprised to have a female walking through the door, but I made it very clear that I didn’t want sex.  When she asked for my name, I gave it, saying I was a friend of Garrett’s.”  A pause to clear her throat.  “She recognized my last name — Fowler — and told me there’s a girl based in Richmond with the same name under a pimp named Llewellyn.  I asked her for the first name, and wouldn’t you guess?”  She gave a bitter laugh that sounded more like a croak.  “It’s my fucking sister.”

 

    My jaw nearly hit the floor.  The first reaction I had was to say something along the lines of, “You have a sister?”, but obviously she had one.  But Leah’s sister, of all people, getting mixed up with a pimp?  If she were anything like Leah, she couldn’t even look at a prostitute without cringing, let alone _be_ one.

 

    “Do you know where—“

 

    “We wouldn’t be going to Richmond if I didn’t,” Leah snapped, making me close my mouth and sit back in the passenger’s seat.  “Dammit!  Danielle is such a fucking _idiot_!”

 

    I asked her my next question before I could stop myself.  “Did she say anything about the guy who went after my brother?”

 

    “No,” she shot back, looking at me incredulously.  “Sorry, but when you hear that your sister is a prostitute, you don’t really pause to think about requests that can be put on back-order.”

 

    Back-order!  Who the hell did she think she was?  That whole reason I was even going places with her, had agreed to help her with her stupid tasks, was because I wanted to screw up the guy who’d gone after Sam.  Granted, hearing about her sister may have been a shock, but I assumed if she — Danielle — was a prostitute right that minute, she’d still be one after the five extra minutes it takes to ask about who’d gone after my brother.  Leah was so damn inconsiderate!

 

    I shook my head and grunted in frustration.  “How do you even know we’ll find her?  Don’t pimps usually cycle around their whores?”

 

    I was jerked forward in my seat as Leah pushed heavily on the brakes.  “Don’t you _dare_ call my sister a whore.”

 

    “That what she is, isn’t she?” I shouted back, throwing up my arms.  “Unless you’d rather me call her a prostitute, a hooker, or a call girl?  Because those all accurately describe her situation right now — _wherever_ she is!”

 

    I expected Leah to fire back an impulsive response, but all she did was shake her head and continue driving.  “No.  Not my sister.  I’m going to get her out of this.”

 

    “It’s not that easy,” I replied in a softer tone.  I suddenly realized that if my sister had given up her freedom to become a prostitute, I’d be just as angry and determined to help her.  Even so, there were risks that someone shouldn’t be willing to take.

 

    “I know it’s not,” Leah nearly hissed.  “There’s no use in sitting on my ass and hoping she’ll get out, though.  I have to do _something_.”

 

    I decided to leave it at that and sat back in my seat, watching the developed city turn into interstate.  The minutes until we arrived ticked down on her phone’s screen.  My heightened breathing from rushing after her and yelling began to ebb, though hers did not.  A glance in Leah’s direction showed me that she wasn’t calm in the slightest.  I’d never seen her so flustered, since she was usually very calm and collected.  She was a pain in the ass, but his situation really sucked, seeing as she was always on the run and now her sister had thrown her life away.

 

    I nearly threw myself out of the car when I started feeling a little sorry for her.


	4. ~12.02...2~

    “It’s around here somewhere,” Leah said under her breath, glaring at every building we passed.  “God, when I get my hands on her…”

 

    I was about to question whether or not she really knew where she was going when we veered to the left, pulling in front of several speeding cars to enter a parking lot almost as ruined as the one we’d been in while looking for Bailey.  Again, Leah parked toward the back and wasted no time getting out of the vehicle.  I scrambled to catch up, stumbling on the cracks in the asphalt while trying to run in heels.  A grunt of frustration left my throat as we entered a motel that looked only a little nicer than the last.  It must have been a chain, since the lobby looked almost exactly the same.  The only difference was the attendant behind the front desk, who had five years and a lot less drugs on the other lady.

 

    “Where is Danielle Fowler?” Leah shouted at her, marching up and planting her palms on the surface of the desk.

 

    The lady looked taken aback and glanced down at a something in her lap.  “Her rate is–“

 

    “I don’t give a flying fuck what her rate is!  Tell me where she is _now_.”  Acid was in her tone.

 

    An annoyed look crossed the woman’s face and she stood taller.  “I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”

 

    Leah reached for something at the small of her back and I heard a click.  A gasp left my lips as a handgun was drawn from Leah’s waistband and pointed toward the woman.  She looked shocked as her hands lifted over her head.  I couldn’t read Leah’s expression because she had her back to me, but I imagined she was murderous.

 

    “Leah,” I said carefully, wanting to insert some reason into the situation.  
  
    “Shut up, Phoebe!”

 

    “Put the gun down,” I said anyway, trying to remain calm.  I couldn’t have Leah shooting someone who was just doing their job, no matter how disgusting or unworthy.

 

    “Tell me where she is,” Leah shouted at the lady, flicking her gun to emphasize the fact that she had one.

 

    “I–I, uhm–“  Sweat was beading on her forehead.  I could see her thoughts warring with each other, torn between her life and her job; whichever dirt bag was in charge of these girls was probably in charge of her as well, and would make her life miserable if she didn’t work up to par.  An expression flashed across her face that made me pity her, one that held fear and anger.

 

    “This will get a lot messier in a few seconds if you don’t spit out a coherent sentence,” Leah said sharply.  “And if I’m not mistaken, it’s your job to clean it up — it’ll be a lot more difficult when it’s _you_ you’re cleaning off the floor.”

 

    My mouth dropped open as the lady whimpered.  We were both stunned at her words, a chill running down my spine as I tried to determine whether or not she was bluffing.  Thankfully no one else was in the lobby; I was sure they would’ve called the local PD already.

 

    “Room three-twenty-two,” the lady squeaked.

 

    Leah gave a loud snort.  “Was that so hard?”  I let out a long breath, thankful that the woman had the common sense to keep her life.  My relief was cut short when Leah dropped the barrel of the hand gun to point at the desk phone and pulled the trigger.  A silencer I hadn’t noticed softened the noise, but the sound of shattering plastic echoed through the lobby.  The lady let out a cry and dropped to the floor behind the counter.

 

    “Leah!” I shouted, but she was already storming off to the elevators along the right wall.

 

    I jogged after her, making it in the doors just as they began to close.  She hit a button so hard I thought it might break and began pacing around the small interior.  I just stood in the middle, staring at her accusingly.

 

    “Was that really necessary?” I questioned as the speaker dinged, signaling that we’d passed the first floor.

 

    “Probably not,” Leah replied blandly.  “But it got me what I wanted.”

 

    “You had to destroy the phone for effect, I assume?” I said, pursing my lips.  “Just to prove your point?”

 

    “That one was necessary,” she answered, glancing at the doors as the speaker dinged again.  “The second I got that out of her, she’d have called her douche bag of a boss and told him we’d crashed the motel.  Within minutes this place would have a guys that could snap our necks like they were opening a water bottle waiting for us.  I saw a shard break off and hit her in the side, so I doubt she’ll be doing anything for a while anyway.”

    “What the hell is wrong with you?” I said incredulously.  I was disgusted to say the least.

 

    Before she could answer the speaker dinged at the third floor and she shot out the doors, rushing down the hall and counting out room numbers.  I chased after, fuming about what’d just happened.  The room was all the way down the hall, the door shut with paint peeling along the sides.  I’d just barely glimpsed the number on the wood before Leah stopped in front of it.  As I jogged toward her I watched her face change from anger to shock, then to disgust — there were muffled noises coming from inside.

 

    “What the _hell_?” she shouted, lunging for the door handle.  When it wouldn’t budge, she took a step back and kicked at the door with her heel.  The four-inch wedge gave her enough power to actually kick in the door, sending it banging against the wall behind it.  Leah wasted no time making her entrance pronounced and loud.

 

    I followed her as quickly as I could into the room, where I’d heard a yelp and an annoyed grunt.  Leah had stopped in her tracks, staring at a shabby-looking bed with wrinkled sheets covering a weak-looking mattress.  Sitting astride a half naked man who looked to be in his early thirties was a scantily-dressed carbon copy of Leah.  I was shocked they looked so similar, and even more surprised by the way their expressions seemed to mimic each other in surprise, then anger.

 

    “What the hell are you doing here?” Danielle snapped, her voice only a little higher than Leah’s.  She flicked her long black hair over her shoulder, revealing the mostly transparent bra she had on.

 

    “I could ask you the same fucking thing!” Leah shouted back.  She turned on the man.  “Get the hell out.”

 

    “Who the fuck do you think you are–“ he began, but stopped dead as Leah raised the gun in her hand.  A click sounded and her hand twitched.

 

    “Get out.”

 

    The man immediately shoved Danielle off of him and he jumped up, attempting to buckle his belt and grab his shirt as he went.  He shot all of us an incredulous look as he brushed past, his footsteps echoing in the mostly quiet hallway the whole way.  Leah’s head snapped to look at her sister.

 

    “That was my dinner tonight,” Danielle said accusingly, flicking a hand where the man had just been.  “So thank you, Leah.”  Her gaze flicked to me.  “Who’s the sidekick?”

 

    “What do you think you’re doing?” Leah shot back, ignoring her last question and taking a step toward her.  Danielle rolled her eyes and reached for a purple robe I hadn’t seen lying on the floor.  She wrapped herself in it and moved to the night stand, flicking on the light to make the room a little brighter.

 

    “I’m making a living,” she answered.

 

    “This isn’t living!”  Leah gestured at the room.  “How many guys have you screwed for a meal?  This is slavery.”

 

    “It’s surviving!” Danielle yelled.  She stomped a bare foot in a very child-like way.  “I’m not dead, am I?”

 

    “You may as well be, the way I see it!  Dammit, Dani, you’re seventeen!  What the hell happened to you?”

 

    “I don’t give a damn about ‘the way you see it’.  I don’t even see why you’re so concerned in the first place.  After all, it was you who decided to walk out on me!  You didn’t even care enough to call when I turned _eighteen_.  Or when Mom put herself in the hospital — I think you actually ignored my messages that time, leaving me alone with a suicidal mother who can’t recognize her own daughter when she’s higher than heaven!  Where was your concern then, Leah?”

 

    “I was tied up,” Leah responded.  “There wasn’t a way I could get back–“

 

    “Tied up, huh?  Figuratively, or literally?  Because I’ve heard Jason McCann has pretty kinky sex,” Danielle retorted immediately.  My jaw went slack and I felt my cheeks go as red as Leah’s.

 

    “That doesn’t matter,” she replied harshly.  “What matters is that you’re screwing yourself over; or letting others, if you want to be literal!  Don’t throw your life away for this.”

 

    “Too late now,” Danielle shrugged.  “I saw a way to live and I took it.  Better than being at home where Mom can’t even tell me what my name is anymore.  I’m already signed up, and there isn’t a way out in the foreseeable future.  So, I suggest you turn around and walk out that door.  Take Sidekick with you, and send Jeremy up on your way down.”

 

    “I’m not leaving here without you.”

 

    “You’re going to have to.”

 

    Danielle seemed to sit on the bed casually, but her expression was anything but.  Leah was mirroring her, and the resemblance was chilling.  I could hardly handle _one_ Leah, let alone _two._   I felt helpless and out of place in the room, leaning against the wall as the girls stared each other down.  Neither one spoke, sending the small space into an uncomfortable silence.

 

    “This isn’t you, Dani,” Leah said, her tone the slightest bit softer.

 

    “You don’t know who I am,” her sister shot back immediately.  “You lost the privilege of knowing me a long time ago.”

 

    “Come with us,” Leah gestured from me to her.  “Llewellyn won’t be able to find you and you’ll be in the clear.  Don’t sit here while scum-of-the-earth men come to have a good time at your expense.”

 

    Danielle looked away.  “Your offer isn’t even remotely tempting.”

 

    A noise of frustration left Leah’s throat.  “I didn’t come here for you to dig your heels in and beg to be screwed thirty times a day!”

 

    “I guess you did, because that’s exactly what’s happening!”

 

    Their volume was continuously rising.  Soon they were loud enough that I was sure people several rooms down could hear.  I couldn’t believe how idiotic Danielle was being — being a prostitute wasn’t living; it was filthy and degrading.  How anyone could want that for themselves, I had no idea.  This Llewellyn guy must’ve had her so brainwashed that she would jump off a cliff if he told her to.

 

    It wasn’t until I saw the gun shaking in Leah’s hand that I decided it was time to step in.

 

    “Leah,” I said, loud enough to be heard.

 

    She didn’t take her eyes from her sister, who was staring back with just as much intensity.  They were both furious, one of the most angry pairs I’d ever seen.  I knew that with a weapon in her hand Leah was just a bomb waiting to go off, and that the aftermath wouldn’t be good.

 

    “Put the gun down.”

 

    Leah’s eyes flicked to it at her side and she seemed reluctant to obey me at first, but must’ve thought better than to let herself continue to hold it while she was angry.  It was tucked into her waistband at the small of her back, but even putting the weapon away brought her no closer to moving away from Danielle’s heavy gaze.

 

    “Come with us,” Leah said slowly.  “ _Now_.”

 

    Danielle narrowed her eyes.  “No.”

 

    Leah’s jaw clenched tightly.  “Why are you so bent on staying here?  I’m offering you a way out; food, shelter, escape from this lowlife you sold yourself to.  You can’t tell me that wouldn’t be better than here.”

 

    “Llewellyn offered me a way out,” her sister replied sourly.  “I was starving because I was to focused on Mom to worry about myself.  When you didn’t help, he did.  He’s good to me, better than you’ve ever been.  So no, it wouldn’t really be better than here.”

 

    I could tell by her tone that this Llewellyn guy had her completely brain-washed.  No human being in their right mind would ever say anything like that, especially in the situation she’d gotten herself into.  He must’ve told her enough lies to block out the truth.  Starving is a vulnerable place to be.  Anyone can take advantage of her in that state even if she doesn’t realize it.  Danielle probably thought she’d gotten to make the decisions leading up to her current “occupation”, but she was wrong.  The decision was made for her by Llewellyn the moment he found her.

 

    “Leah,” I said, trying to get her to take her eyes away from Danielle.  “She’s not going to listen to reason.”

 

    “Reason!” Danielle snapped, turning to look at me.  “You’re both idiots.  Get it through your heads that I’m happier here than I’ve ever been with Leah around.”

 

    “Stay out of this, Phoebe,” Leah said, hardly sparing a glance in my direction.

 

    “She’s not going to listen to you,” I pressed.  “Llewellyn has her whipped.”

 

    “Fuck off!”

 

    “This is hopeless,” I threw up my arms.  “Leah, now obviously isn’t the time.”

 

    Leah finally turned around.  “And what the hell am I supposed to do?  Sit around and wait for him to put her in intensive care and see if she finally wises up?”

 

    “Maybe that’s what she needs!” I said, exasperated.  “Listen to her, she thinks he’s some angel that swooped to the rescue when she needed him!”

 

    “I’m right here!” Danielle shouted, standing from the bed.  Her fists we clenched.

 

    “She’s my goddamn sister, Phoebe,” Leah said, ignoring her.  “I can’t just leave her.”

 

    “For now, I think you’ll have to.”  I sighed, trying to calm down.  “We should go.  Danielle obviously doesn’t want us here.”

 

    “That’s the most intelligent thing either of you have said yet,” Danielle rolled her eyes.  “Now get the fuck out before I call Taylor.”

 

    “If you mean your friend at the front desk, her phone is shattered and she’s got a shard of plastic stuck in her side,” Leah replied snidely.

 

    When Danielle’s jaw went slack, Leah hissed a sigh and strode over to her.  Danielle and I both tensed, ready for another outburst, but Leah only reached for the pad of paper and pen on the nightstand.  She scribbled something and put the pen back down, then walked over to me before looking back at her sister.

 

    “You’re a fucking idiot,” Leah said passively.  “But that’s my number.  When you get your head out of your ass, call it.  I’ll get here as soon as I can.”

 

    Danielle scoffed and picked up the pad.  Without thinking twice, she tossed it in the trash bin across the room.  “If that doesn’t do it for you, this will; get the fuck out of my room.  Now.”

 

    Leah showed no emotion, which I assumed was her defense mechanism.  “Fine.  You’re going to regret that, but I’ll let you dig your own hole.  Have a nice life, however long it’ll be.”

 

    She grabbed my arm and roughly tugged me out the door.  Without a word she let it slam, then began speed-walking down the hall with me in tow.

 

    “I can’t believe her,” Leah hissed as she pushed into the elevator at the end of the hall.  “Ungrateful little shit.  I came here and risked my skin for her, and she’d rather be pushed around by some low life!”

 

    “You heard how messed up she was,” I said.  “She thought he saved her — from your absence, I might add.  She connects you to the pain she was in.”

 

    “It doesn’t make any sense!” she suddenly shouted, kicking the elevator wall.  “I left so I could help them!  I left to find him, just like Mom wanted, and when I finally found him, he doesn’t want to come with me and Dani sold herself as a fucking sex slave!”

 

    I turned to face her.  “Who did you go to find?”  For a moment I thought she meant Jason, but remembered how she’d left him back in March.  Had she been looking for whoever this was since before then?

 

    “It doesn’t matter anymore,” Leah replied harshly as the door opened on the first floor.  She was out before I even opened my mouth.

 

    She strode to the front desk, where the lady was still deep breathing and holding her side.  I saw a shard of tan plastic sticking out from between her fingers.  The sight of blood on her skin made me wince.  The woman had tears in her eyes.

 

    Leah huffed.  “Do you have a cellphone?” she nearly barked at her, holding out an impatient hand.

 

    The lady swallowed.  “In the drawer on the right side,” she croaked, nodding toward the desk.

 

    With a roll of her eyes Leah stepped behind the counter and threw open a drawer.  A few seconds later she pulled out a phone and typed in a number.  She held the phone up to her ear and began speaking a couple moments after that.

 

    “There’s a woman here that needs medical help,” she said casually.  “She’s got an injury to the lower right section of her abdomen.  The only motel on 57th.  Thanks.  Make sure you bring an officer with you as well; you might want to check what’s going on in the upper levels of the place.  Yes.  Okay.  Thank you.”  She ended the call, then threw the cell at the ground.  It shattered into several pieces that Leah stepped over without a second thought.  “Let’s go.  Now.”

 

    It took me a bit to get over the fact that she was leaving an injured woman behind after calling the police as well.  When I realized Leah was striding out the door I did my best to follow quickly after, slipping on the broken pieces of both a cell phone and a desk phone as I went.  I tugged open the door to the passenger side of the car just as she started the engine, and a few seconds later I was scrambling to put on my seatbelt as she peeled out of the lot.

 

    We were on the interstate by the time I pulled my thoughts together about what’d just happened.

 

    “What the hell was that?”

 

    Leah hardly looked away from the road.  “What?”

 

    “What the hell is the matter with you?” I asked again.  “Do you always destroy everything in your path when you’re angry, or am I just seeing the extreme hormonal side of you?”

 

    “I don’t understand why you’re so upset,” she said.  “It didn’t involve you.”

 

    “You lodged a piece of plastic desk-phone into a woman’s side,” I said, dumbfounded.  “You then continued to wave your gun around, even at your sister, then set a cop on that whole motel and smashed her cellphone for good measure.  Throughout the entirety of this, I was being strung along and ignored even when I was the only one in the room who brought sense into your stupid sibling argument.  I’m upset because you left Bailey when you could’ve asked her in thirty seconds if she knew where whoever-the-hell-hurt-my-brother-is, _is_ , to save a girl that didn’t even want to be saved!  I think my anger is completely justified!”

 

    “I can go back to Bailey any time I want,” Leah said.  “She stays put because that’s her usual spot.  I don’t know the first thing about how Llewellyn’s system works, so Danielle could possibly be a fourth of the way across the country by tomorrow.  I’d like to address the things I know are stationary _last_ , especially since it’s not a top priority right now.”

 

    “Then you’d better get your priorities straight,” I shot back.  “Because if you think I won’t do something about it, then you’re wrong.  The first thing on my list is my brother.”

 

    “The first thing on _mine_ is my sister,” she retorted, stopping at a read light.  She looked over.  “I guess you’re along for the ride, though, because last I checked you had no idea who hurt your brother, and no way to get around.  You need _me_ for that, and I need some things done first.”

 

    “Do I even need to say that the things you’ve done have been way beyond the necessary measures?  Everything has to be done for effect with you, doesn’t it?  You can’t just get things done, and that’s probably why you had to leave your condo in Oakland in the first place; isn’t it?  It had nothing to do with an out-of-hand party and illegal drugs — or maybe it did.  You wanted to have a good time in spite of someone, and left ruins in your wake.  That’s how the cops found you out; am I wrong?”

 

    “Fuck off,” she snapped, accelerating through the intersection as the light turned green.  “You don’t know me.”

 

    “I don’t have to!”  I threw my hands in the air.  “All I have to do is watch how you act.”

 

    “You’re not my mother,” she said sharply.  “Stop acting like it.”

 

    I ignored her.  “There’s a _very_ slim chance you’ve changed since leaving here.  People in our world don’t change, not really.”

 

    “And what _is_ our world, Phoebe?”

 

    “A shitty one!” I shouted, resting my elbow against the window and leaning my head in my hand.  There was a long pause where Leah drove through four intersections before getting on the interstate.  “Some guy put Sam in the hospital.  I just want to make things right for my brother; justice.  I think you can understand that.  I also think you can understand that since you’re holding this guy’s name just out of my reach, I get a little edgy when you decide to take detours and leave a bloody, misshapen trail.”

 

    When I received no reply I glanced at Leah, who was watching the road intently.  She was deep in thought, forehead creased between her eyebrows.  I decided to let the topic lie and watch out the window.  We were a few exits away from Leah’s condo when she pulled off onto another ramp leading to the edge of Oakland.  I sat up straighter.

 

    “Where are you going?”

 

    “Back to Bailey,” she replied monotonously.  “I don’t recall prostitutes having hours.”  She shrugged.  “I’ll talk with her again.”

 

    My eyebrows rose with a question that she didn’t answer, leaving the unspoken words to fade between us as she turned onto a road leading to the edge of the city.  How could Leah have changed so quickly from murderous to generous?  The only thing I could think of was that she knew what I was feeling — she knew what it was like to care about a brother, or a sister in her case.  Leah was going back to Bailey out of kindness.  Maybe she wasn’t as horrible as I thought.

 

    I doubted it.

 

    It took a few more long minutes to get back to the hotel.  For the third time, Leah parked near the back of the lot and hardly waited for me before striding toward the main doors.  I was getting better at walking in her heels, but made a mental note to ask her if she had any flats or at least _something_ shorter than the three — or maybe four — inches I was walking on.

 

    I passed through the front doors a few seconds after Leah and found her already talking with the lady at the desk.  Leah was pushing a bill across the surface, but the woman wasn’t taking it.  I quickened my pace and joined them.

 

    “She’s not here,” the lady said.

 

    “That’s bullshit,” Leah replied instantly.  “We were here just over an hour ago and she was still up in her room.”

 

    The lady shook her head.  “Bailey was moved half an hour ago.  I’m sorry, but he isn’t here.”

 

    “Like hell she isn’t!” Leah’s voice suddenly rose.  I blinked, forehead beginning to crease as I realized what this meant.  No Bailey, no way to find who’d gone after Sam.  “I need to talk to her now.”

 

    “You’re going to have to leave,” the lady said.  “You have no business being here.  I suggest you go before I get someone to help you.”

 

    Leah’s glare was intense while she leaned her elbows on the desk.  “Listen,” she glanced down that the woman’s name tag.  “Carlie.  Bailey and I have unfinished business.  I know she’s still here.  So, I am perfectly willing to pay her ‘rate’ for just a minute of her time.  Now, if you’ll excuse me–“

 

    “What part did you not understand?” the lady snapped at her.  Leah stood up taller, seeming annoyed by the woman’s raise in voice.  “Bailey.  Isn’t.  Here.  Glenn came to move her, and I haven’t seen her since.”

 

    Leah’s jaw clenched and she flicked her dark hair over her shoulder.  Without another word she turned and started flouncing to the doors.  I gave the woman behind the desk an exasperated look and followed after Leah.  A sick feeling was twisting in my stomach.  Bailey was gone, and we had no way to track her down.  Therefore, we also had no way of tracking Sam’s attacker down.  It was a particularly inconvenient loss.

 

    I was so concentrated on trying to think of ways around the situation when I almost ran into Leah, who was staring at a spot to our left, somewhat near the alley between the motel and another building.  I tried to follow her gaze but couldn’t make anything out on the asphalt.

 

    “What?” I asked impatiently, trying to catch her eye.

 

    She shrugged me off, taking slow steps toward where she was looking.  I followed, feeling a little odd.  Leah didn’t seem to notice how strange this seemed, especially when we’d both come out of the motel at a fast walk we abruptly stopped.  As we approached I tried to see where she was looking, and finally saw a stain on the cement that looked like a dark red paint splatter.

 

    “What are you looking for?” I asked hesitantly.

 

    Leah pointed at the spot.  “More of these.”  Her eyes flashed around the area and suddenly focused on another spot a few feet away, closer to the alley.  I followed as she made her way toward the area.

 

    Another red spot stained the asphalt, nearly identical to the first.  When I looked ahead I spotted more, leading between the buildings.  I pushed past her at a faster pace, a churning feeling settling in my midsection.  It couldn’t be a good thing that red drops were pointing us to a shady alley, especially when the girl we needed had disappeared.  A part of me knew it was blood, but the other part of me wasn’t willing to accept it.

 

    I was following the trail of drops pretty far into the alley when they grew bigger, about the size of a dinner plate and then a hub cab.  Then, suddenly, the trail ended right in front of a large dumpster.  My stomach dropped to my toes as I stared at it, the black lids closed and dangerous to open.  Whether I wanted to admit it or not, I knew there was a body inside.  All air left my lungs when Leah stepped up beside me.

 

    “Shit,” she breathed, doing what I didn’t have the courage to.

 

    She stepped forward and propped up the lid.  I was shaking my head, the idea that it could be Bailey in there consuming me and making me sick.  Another string of curses left her mouth as she dropped the lid, sending a waft of rank air at me.  This sent me over the edge.  I bent over and vomited into a pile of trash along the right wall of the building.

 

    “Dammit, Phoebe,” Leah hissed.  “You’re wearing a pair of my good pumps.”

 

    “Fuck off,” I coughed, bracing my hand on the wall and holding back my hair.  I winced and looked away from where I’d just lost everything I’d eaten today.  Though I knew it wouldn’t happen again, the sick feeling still remained.

 

    “Well,” Leah said, dusting off her hands and walking toward me.  “It’s not Bailey.”

 

    I didn’t know whether to sigh with relief or puke again at the thought of a random body sitting in a dumpster.  The whole thing was sickening.  None of this should’ve been happening to me.  How could I have gotten so deep in this mess?  Could all of this have been avoided, starting back as far as going after Jason’s warehouse that first time?  I shivered, mostly because of the bile that’d just come from my mouth.  I didn’t want to think about it anymore.

 

    “Dammit,” Leah breathed.  “It may not have been Bailey, but now we don’t know where she is.  Either way, she’s as good as dead to us now.”  She glanced at me.  “We should go.”

 

    “I can’t believe she slipped through our fingers,” I shook my head, walking after her.  “Today has just been a pile of shit.”

 

    “It doesn’t really matter anymore,” she said over her shoulder.  “What we have to do now is find someone else who can help.”

 

    “Do you know anyone else?  Does Garrett?”

 

    Leah waved me off as she slid in the driver’s side.  “He has plenty of people.  There’s a guy named Jared in Palm Springs, where one of my other places is.”

 

    “That’s convenient,” I huffed as I sat down beside her.

 

    She put the car into gear.  “He only gave me names for people based near where I have homes.”

 

    I shrugged.  “When are we heading out, then?  It’s a bit of a drive.”

 

    “Not yet.  I have to figure something out.”

 

    I let a moment of quiet pass as she pulled out onto the road, and then the interstate.

 

    “Don’t you think it would be beneficial if I got to have a say in what we did for a change?”

 

    She snorted.  “Not really.”

 

    “Then why are you even telling me we’re going to find this guy?”  I clenched my teeth to hold in a noise of frustration.  “Because we haven’t gotten anywhere.  We’ve just been doing whatever the hell _Leah_ wants to do, screwing around here and there without really getting anything done!  If something does _happen_ , I’m just going to leave you to do your ‘errands’ and find whoever this is myself.”

 

    Leah stared at the road.  “You need to take a deep breath.  It’s only been three days since you left Jason’s, and I’d say we’ve gotten pretty far in that amount of time.  We stopped at Garrett’s for the purpose of finding names that could lead us to your guy.  We stopped here today to see what one of those names knew.  Every day we’ve been on the road has been moving toward your goal.  You just can’t see that because your head is shoved too far up your ass.  Not every waking minute can be about you.  If I decide what happens, I figure that way I can at least get a few things done quiet enough so that the people who hate me don’t pick up on our trail.”

 

    I crossed my arms, not even realizing that I’d spent such a short time with her.  She’d made it feel like ages.  My reply never came because I had no words, my pride being shoved down my throat.  I hated to admit it, but Leah was right.  I did need to calm down.  Flipping my shit every time something happened wasn’t going to help Sam get better and it wasn’t going to bring us closer to whoever put Sam in the hospital.

 

    I pulled my phone out from the cupholder, reminded now that I had with me.  I unlocked it and typed out a quick message to Peter.

 

     _Any news on Sam yet?  Can you call the hospital at least?_

 

His reply came a few minutes later.  _We’ve called.  He’s doing fine.  Conscious now, but they won’t put him on the phone.  He knows we can’t talk, but I haven’t said why or anything about you yet.  Do you want me to give him a message?_

 

_No.  It’s probably best not to tell him I was there.  Give him a chance to heal a little before dropping the Jason-bomb on him._

 

_I’ll wait, then.  He’s doing okay, Phoebe.  Don’t worry too much about him.  The nurse I talked to over the phone said he’s making quick progress and they’ll let him walk around soon.  He’s strong, just like you._

 

I smiled subtly, thinking of how frustrated Sam would be with people telling him he couldn’t get out of bed.  It was good to know he’d be back soon.

 

     _Okay.  And Pete?_

 

_What?_

 

_Please don’t tell Sam about Jason and I.  I know Tyler has some twisted version of what happened in his head already, so don’t let him tell my brother either.  I’m not ready to let him know I basically backstabbed him.  I’ll tell Sam, just not now._

 

There were a couple of minutes where I thought he wasn’t going to answer.  It wasn’t until Leah was pulling back into the parking ramp of her building when my phone lit up with Peter’s message.

 

     _I won’t tell him.  Tyler hasn’t said anything, but he’s been in his room a lot.  I’ll make sure he doesn’t tell Sam.  You’ll have to tell him sooner or later._

 

I winced, feeling guilty.  Shutting himself in his room was definitely something Tyler would do.

 

     _I’m hoping later._

 

 

••    ••    ••    ••    ••    ••    ••    ••    ••    ••    ••    ••    ••

 

 

    Leah and I were sat on the sofa, watching TV while snacking on a cereal mix she’d gone out to buy.  I’d stayed at her condo while she was buying food to fill the fridge, which I’d told her was pointless since we’d probably be leaving soon anyway.  Some melodramatic soap opera was playing on the screen in front of us where a girl was just caught cheating between two of her classmates and a man eight years older than her.  A particularly loud fight was just ending when Leah sighed and stood up.  She walked silently into her room and I heard a faucet running.

 

    I absent-mindedly watched the show for about five more minutes when I heard a knock at the door.  My head snapped to attention, surprised not only at the sound but at the fact that someone was at Leah’s door.  Immediately my nerves were put on edge.  I craned my neck to look through Leah’s door.

 

    “Leah?” I called, but was left without an answer.  There was another knock.

 

    I got up slowly, setting the bowl of cereal mix down on the coffee table.  My feet padded over to the door, where I hesitated.  There wasn’t a peep-hole, so I couldn’t see who was there.  If I opened that door, I was making both Leah and I vulnerable to whoever waited beyond it.  She’d mentioned people who hated her once or twice, but it didn’t make sense that they could track her movement that quickly.

 

    The third, impatient knock on the door jarred me from my thoughts.

 

    My hand reached for the knob and I twisted it, pulling the door open just the width of my body.  My eyes caught sight of who stood there and my jaw nearly dropped.

 

    “No fucking way.”

 

    “Nice to see you, too,” Grant Conn laughed, pressing his hand flat to the door.  He pushed and it gave a little before I snapped to my senses and blocked it with my foot.

 

    “Why are you here?” I questioned, catching a hint of the faintest scar running next to his left eye.  I was immediately reminded of the last time I’d seen him, bloodied and beaten by Jason for trafficking girls into the slave trade.  It didn’t matter what had happened between Jason and I; Grant was still a horrible human being.

 

    “I called him,” Leah said, appearing from her room with her hair tied back into a high ponytail.  She had changed into an airy tee and leggings.

 

    “You _what_?” I hissed.  Grant took my moment of shock as an opportunity to make his way inside.  I watched as he stepped in and closed the door behind him, giving me a sly smile.  I jabbed a finger at him.  “Do you even know what he is?”

 

    “I know exactly what he does,” she rolled her eyes, coming to lean against the counter.  She was bent over enough to give a revealing view of her chest.

 

    “Then why the hell is he here?”  I pressed.  “Weren’t you just freaking out today about how your sister sold herself as a sex slave?  And now you just brought over someone who helps girls like her _do_ that?”

 

    “I don’t just bring girls in,” Grant said, sounding exasperated.

 

    “Who asked you to talk?” I shot back at him, unwilling to hear any words he had to say.  I turned toward Leah, shooting her a what-the-hell-are-you-thinking look.

 

    “He helps girls _out_ ,” she said.  Leah stood up.  “And that’s what he’s here to do.”

 

    I laughed bitterly.  “Did _he_ tell you that?  You can’t get out.  They’ll hunt you down.  Depending on the pimp, they may just put out a reward for a girl’s head and see what happens.”

 

    “If they keep their identity, yes,” Grant spoke again.  “But I give them a new name and a bus ticket for states away.  That’s all they need, and they’re gone without a trace.”

 

    “And what do you gain from doing that?” I said, skeptical.

 

    He shrugged.  “Supply and demand would be on my side at that point.”

 

    My nose wrinkled.  “You’re disgusting.”

 

    “That’s beside the point,” Leah spoke up, coming to stand between Grant and I.  “What _is_ relevant is the fact the he’s going to get girls in Oakland and Sacramento out from under their pimps’ foot.  More specifically, my sister.”

 

    “You heard what she said today,” I reminded her.  “Danielle doesn’t want to be saved.”

 

    “I don’t give two shits what she wants anymore,” she replied harshly.  “This is about what’s best for her now.  So do you want to help us get girls out, or not?”

 

    My eyes narrowed.  This was a very bad idea.  I didn’t know how they were planning to pull this off, or if they even had the means.  My gut was telling me to say no.

 

    I glared at Grant.  “I don’t trust you,” I told him, then glanced at Leah.  “And frankly, I don’t really trust you either.  So the second this blows up in your face, I’m out.”

 

    Leah huffed a laugh.

 

    “That’s better than a no.”  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 **Alrighty.**  
  
  
GRANT IS BACK GUYS.  How do you feel about that?  
  
  
Thanks for reading.  Sorry for any typos, I was too lazy to go back and fix anything.  Oh well, I bet you got the gist  
  
Xx


	5. ~12.02...J~

    The house was in pretty bad shape when we started to move back in.  The damage to all the appliances and the way the place had been looted screamed _Grant_ , as I knew it would.  From what it seemed, though, the house hadn’t been touched in weeks.

 

    I’d given Tyson Leo’s old room, whereas the guys and I were back to our old beds.  Xander hadn’t been too sure about my motives for moving back to Poway.  I knew he thought it was because of Phoebe, and in a way it was.  Because of all that had happened with her, I realized I couldn’t waste my time on girls.  I was blinding myself from the fact that I needed to keep my power here, where it counted the most.  Oakland was a great city, but I was better off here.  And now, without a trace of Phoebe, I could do whatever I wanted without seeing her face and feeling guilty.

 

    “Jason,” Lucas said, catching my attention.  I was leaned against the kitchen counter with a bottle of water in my hand.  My eyebrow rose at him.  “Henry caught sight of Mendall headed toward the hospital.”

 

    My jaw clenched.  Tyler never could get a clue.  “How long ago?”

 

    “I just got off the phone with him.  Should I send someone after him?”

 

    “No,” I answered.  I set the bottle down and dug my car keys out of my pocket.  “I’ll meet him myself.”

 

    Lucas didn’t say anything else as I made my way down to the garage.  I wasn’t too happy about the scramble to do border control, but if I had to knock a couple heads together to show I was back in charge then I was willing to do it — especially to someone from Markus’s group, and especially since it was Tyler.

 

    I didn’t completely understand my hatred for him.  He was, of course, part of my group’s biggest rival.  Even so, I didn’t find this much rage when thinking of anyone else close to Markus.  For a split second I began to think it had something to do with Phoebe, but quickly suppressed the notion.  Thinking about her in that way — as an object to be fought over — wouldn’t help me in trying to move forward.  I had to look at the situation objectively.  They were all just another blip on the map now.

 

    I made it to the hospital in a few minutes.  Without really knowing what to look for, I pulled into a spot near the back of the parking lot.  I at least had enough decency to wait until Tyler was outside to do anything.  It was several minutes before I saw him walking out the doors, gray hoodie on with the hood hiding his face.  He was walking directly toward me, head down and hands shoved in his pockets.  I got out of my pickup.

 

    Tyler didn’t notice me until I said his name.  “Mendall.”

 

    His head shot up and immediately his face twisted into a hard glare.  “McCann.”

 

    “I thought I told you to stay out of my territory,” I said conversationally, but we both knew I was anything but.  “Lastings can heal on his own.”

 

    “Fuck off,” he shot back.  “You need to take a step back right now.”

 

    “I stepped back for a month.”  I took a step toward him and he tensed.  “For five weeks I left, and in that time you thought the line was gone.  Don’t worry, my guys kept tabs on who came and went where they weren’t supposed to.  Now that I’m back, I’ll collect soon enough.”

 

    “The only goddamn reason you’re back is because of Phoebe,” he said and immediately looked horrified of his words.  He cursed under his breath.  “What the fuck even happened?  What did you do to her?”

 

    I was taken aback by Tyler’s question.  It was the last thing I expected to leave his mouth, especially since we both knew I’d come here to beat some sense into his ass.  He was standing twenty feet away, fists clenched and shooting me an ice cold look.  When I didn’t answer right away, he heaved a breath.

 

    “Never mind.  I don’t even want to know.  Just get it through your head that whatever happened with her, she wasn’t thinking straight.  That wasn’t the real Phoebe.  You don’t know her like I do.”

 

    My jaw went slack as I stared at him.  I didn’t come to the hospital to have this conversation with Tyler, especially since he was Phoebe’s boyfriend — at least, he had been.  I’d been putting Phoebe out of my mind for the past few days and certainly wasn’t going to let him bring her up again.  My mind probably couldn’t handle being torn apart by two separate Phoebes, one way with Tyler and the other way with me.  I was shocked at the next words that came out of my mouth.

 

    “She sounded pretty real when she begged me to fuck her,” I sneered.  The words felt filthy coming off of my tongue.  Tyler’s entire façade fell.

 

    “What the fuck did you say?” he shouted, striding toward me.  “I’m pretty sure I heard your ass talking, because your head knows better.”

 

    “You heard me loud and clear,” I replied, puffing out my chest.  I decided to roll with what I’d just said.  Maybe treating Phoebe like a desperate object would provide a way for me to stop whatever feelings I had for her.  She wouldn’t see as real that way.  “Sometimes I gave her what she wanted, and sometimes I left her pleading for just a taste of–“

 

    Tyler reached out to shove me, but I reacted faster.  I threw a punch at his gut and hit him in the side, causing him to cringe and recoil.  He looked thrown off, but was soon lunging at me again.  I deflected his swings and placed enough hits to his body to allow me time to dig something out of my pocket.  The button of a switchblade clicked and I hid the length of it behind my arm.  Tyler gathered himself and let out a growl before going in again.

 

    My second swing, the blade sunk into the flesh of his left side.  He hollered in pain, stumbling back and clutching the side where the knife had just been under his skin.  Tyler stared at me incredulously, blood beginning to cover his hand as he clutched his side.

 

    “What the hell,” he groaned, watching me as I cleaned the blade on my jeans and prepared for his to lunge again.  He winced, stepping back again and almost losing his balance.  I’d stabbed him deeply, but I didn’t know if I’d hit anything important.  At that point, I didn’t think it mattered to me.

 

    “I warned you,” I said coldly.  “Come back, and there will be consequences.  Leave now, before I decide not to be so generous.”

 

    Tyler let out a dry cough.  He shut his eyes in pain and swayed before meeting my gaze.  “You’re messed up.  This is sick, even for you.  I see why she left.”

 

    Whether or not he’d said it to strike a nerve, he hit exactly where it made me the most angry.  He didn’t know me — no one did, not even Phoebe.  The things I’d shown her were nothing compared to the story I had.  For Tyler to say _anything_ about me was something I wouldn’t tolerate.  The knife left my hand before I even though twice.

 

    The long blade lodged in his calf muscle as he tried to turn away from it.  He cried out again and fell to the ground, swearing and struggling to get up.  The knife was still in his leg when he came to a stand.  Tyler looked down at it, then slowly and reluctantly tugged it out of his calf.  He bellowed as the pain swept over, causing him to nearly fall again.  In a last effort to make a dent on me, he tossed the switchblade my way.  I avoided it with ease and watched as he stood clumsily.

 

    “We’re done here,” I hissed.  “Tell Lebber I said ‘hello’, and you’re just the beginning of what’s going to happen to your group.  If I’m nice, I’ll leave Lastings alone.  If I’m not, he’ll be put out of his misery.  I’ll sleep on it.”

 

    “You sick fuck,” Tyler growled, bending over as a wave of pain hit him.

 

    “I suggest you leave before I change my mind about letting you go.”

 

    Tyler only glared before moving as fast as he could toward his car.  Twenty seconds passed and he sped out of the lot, leaving me by my pickup with a bloody knife behind me.  I went to pick it up, then wiped it off.  Who was this person I had just shown Tyler?  That wasn’t me, even for my street appearance.

 

    I shouted in frustration when I realized what I was gauging myself with.  Phoebe wouldn’t like who this person — this person that she’d created — was.

 

    I’d have to figure out a way to put out of my mind the fact that she’d never forgive me.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 **Okay friends.  I really would like comments to let me know how I'm doing!  It really is an encouragement as an author.**  
  
Side note, the "J" in the chapter title means it's from Jason's perspective.  
  
Thank you all so much for the support :)  Thanks for reading!!!!  
  
Xx


	6. ~12.03~

    “I don’t understand how you think we’re going to pull this off,” I said, drumming my fingers on the countertop.  Leah stood across from me in the kitchen half and Grant leaned against the end where the two different areas intersected.  We were huddled around several sheets of paper — fake IDs and bus tickets to places several states away.  I couldn’t believe they were actually thinking of doing this.

 

    “Simple,” Grant said.  “I act like a customer.  I go in, ask for a girl, find her and give her these, and I slip out the front door while she slips out the back.”

 

    My eyebrow rose.  “And you’ll do this for every single girl in this motel?  Won’t it seem a little suspicious if thirty different prostitutes are leaving through the back door at the same time?”

 

    “I’ll pay for more time,” he replied smoothly.  “I’ll ask for three hours up front, and send the girls out every so often.  You two will be waiting somewhere near the back door in separate vehicles — where you’ll take their pictures for the IDs and send it through the printing machines I give you — to take them to the bus station.  In the right intervals, people won’t even notice.”

 

    “Yeah, right up until the point when a guy goes to get some action and his whore isn’t there.”  I rolled my eyes.  “This doesn’t seem very well thought out.”

 

    “He’s done it before,” Leah spoke up.  “He’s still here.  Grant knows how this business works.”

 

    I snorted.  “Which motel are you even planning on doing?”

 

    Leah hesitated.  “Dani’s.”

 

    My jaw went slack.  “Are you insane?  Did you not even _hear_ what she said yesterday?  She doesn’t want to be saved.  The way she was talking, she’d tell someone if we were smuggling girls out!  This is even less thought-through than I thought.”

 

    Grant seemed to agree.  “If we’re doing this at all, it has to be somewhere we won’t get sold out.  I suggest a motel here in town, or even a different one in Sacramento.”

 

    “You said it yourself, Phoebe,” Leah pressed.  “Pimps rotate around their…  Whores.  Dani may not even be there to say anything.”

 

    “Then why bother?  You obviously want her to get out, so what would be the point of going in if she isn’t there?”

 

    She looked away.  “I don’t know.  I just wish she weren’t so stupid.”

 

    Grant passed an uneasy look between us before setting down the pen in his hand.  “I think there’s a motel toward the edge of the city.  It should be easily accessible, and you’ll have several places to park.  There’s an alley along the side to allow easy travel if I need.”

 

    “Bailey’s,” I said reflexively, knowing it fit Grant’s description.  I remembered how we’d found that girl in the dumpster outside and wondered if she’d been found as my stomach churned.  Leah stayed quiet, her way of agreeing with the choice.

 

    Grant nodded.  “Alright, then.  I have enough bus tickets and ID cards for thirty girls.  There usually aren’t more than about fifteen on one motel so as to avoid suspicion, but I’ve known there to be twice that in some places.  The tickets are for different bus times tonight, so I suggest we set up soon.”

 

    “Will these girls even have clothes?” I asked, thinking of how Danielle had been dressed when we walked in.  All she’d had was a robe.  “Their pimps monitor basically ever part of their lives, right?  So wouldn’t it make sense for them to be holding onto any clothes they have?  It’s not like prostitutes really have a need for clothing anyway, and it would make it a lot harder to have a subtle getaway.”

 

    Grant nodded.  “I guess that’s true.  I don’t think I’ve ever thought about it, since I’ve always been the man on the inside.  Unfortunately, I don’t have enough clothes for fifteen girls, nor the right style.”

 

    “I have clothes,” Leah said, staring at the wall.  “I can throw sweatpants and t-shirts into giant trash bags for both Phoebe and I.”

 

    “Do you even _own_ regular sweats and t-shirts?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

 

    She rolled her eyes.  “Whatever.  I’ll get them ready after we’re done here and then I’m set.  It’s already two, so I think we should get started.  What time does the first bus leave?”

 

    Grant glanced down at the tickets on the counter.  “The first one leaves at six.”

 

    Leah clapped her hands together.  “Are we done, then?  I’d like to leave soon.”

 

    “I’ll get the ID machines ready,” he nodded, tapping the counter before walking to the entrance and sliding out the door.

 

    Leah took a long breath, then set about going into her room and raiding her closet.  I followed, just slow enough to give me time to think on the way.  This whole idea was stupid.  I was all about diminishing the prostitution in the city, but we were going about it wrong.  Something like this required more planning, more observation of schedules and of the prostitutes themselves to really judge what we were getting into.  No one can go in on a split decision like Leah and Grant were planning to.

 

    “You know this is completely idiotic,” I said blandly, leaning against the doorway of the closet.  Leah was procuring a surprisingly good amount of sweats and tossing them to the middle of the space.

 

    “It’s the right thing to do.”

 

    “I agree with you on that account.  But there’s a difference between being right and being smart.  We’re running in there completely blind.”

 

    “We’ve been in before,” Leah answered, continuing to pull out clothing.

 

    “But Grant hasn’t,” I pressed, taking a step into the closet.  “And who’s to say we can actually trust him on the inside?”

 

    “We can trust him because he’s only interested in money.  As soon as we clear those girls out, that pimp is going to need more.  That’s where Grant comes in with a new group, ready to collect his reward.”

 

    “And you’re completely okay with letting those girls out, just so new ones can be forced in?”

 

    Leah stood up, facing away from me at first.  It was a few seconds before she finally turned, looking strained.  She walked over to me and stopped about five feet away, watching my face.

 

    “I know it seems like I’m going in one big circle,” she said.  She sounded sincere, but I snorted.  “I just need to do this, okay?  Those girls that get out will most likely spread that being a prostitute is awful.  More girls won’t sign on.”

 

    “They’re not even staying in California,” I said, rolling my eyes.  “The girls desperate enough to sell themselves are _here_ , not in Utah!  I understand what you’re trying to do, but wouldn’t it just be better to leave well enough alone and not risk anything?”

 

    “And leave all of those girls in that hotel when we have the means to get them out?  Yeah, like I’m just going to stand by!”

 

    “More will just take there place!  What happens then, Leah?  Are you going to swoop in and play hero every time a new batch comes in?  And if you’re caught?  You’re as good as dead if you’re not careful.  Prostitution is a big money maker here, and if you stand between a pimp and his money you can kiss your ass goodbye because you’ll be on his hit list for as long as you live.”

 

    “I know the risk I’m taking.”

 

    “Do you?  Because the Leah I met at Jason’s house played her cards right.  The Leah who talked me into coming to her house after my brother was put in the ICU was smart and could drive a skillful and tempting bargain, no matter how much of a pain-in-the-ass she was!  Where is _that_ girl, because I’m sure as hell not talking to her right now!”

 

    “You don’t know me, Phoebe,” Leah said in a low, warning voice.

 

    “This wasn’t even an issue yesterday,” I continued anyway, throwing my arms up.  “You were your rude and annoyingly persuasive self, and then all of the sudden you go insane.”

 

    “I found out my sister is a _prostitute_ ,” she replied, disgusted.  “And she _likes_ it.  I think I have a right to be upset, and I have reason to want to do something about it.”

 

    “She doesn’t want you to do anything about it!” I shouted, completely exasperated.  “How many times do I have to tell you that!  _Leave her alone_.  You’re only going to get yourself killed.”

 

    “I’m not going to drop this, Phoebe,” she spat through clenched teeth.  Her fists were balled at her sides.  “So either you’re with me, or you’re not.  I don’t give a damn which, just pick one and stop telling me what to do.”

 

    I closed my eyes and pinched the brim of my nose.  Leah was usually smart, but the way she was acting was going to get her into trouble.  She was being too rash and too impulsive, and with our luck she was going to be killed.  Someone beside Grant had to be there to make sure she didn’t screw up.  I needed her to get to whoever had hurt my brother.  I was going to regret this.

 

    “If we get killed, hurt, or into any trouble of the sort,” I said slowly, looking her in the eye.  “It’s on you.”

 

    Leah huffed.  “I’ll — We’ll be fine.”

 

    “I just want you to know that I blame you for every bad thing that will come of this.”

 

    She nodded reluctantly.  “Noted.”

 

    I mimicked her gesture.  “Good.”

 

 

••    ••    ••    ••    ••    ••    ••    ••    ••    ••    ••    ••    ••

 

 

    “This is insane,” I mumbled to myself, pulling onto the interstate.  I was driving a navy blue Taurus, the car Grant had brought with him to Leah’s, with the equipment he’d given me in the backseat along with several pairs of sweats.

 

    “Relax,” Grant sighed in the passenger seat.  I’d almost forgotten he was there, despite how he was trying to make conversation.  Why he’d chosen to ride with me, I had no idea.  I was following Leah, who was driving her own car to the hotel.  “We’ll be fine.”

 

    I shook my head absentmindedly.  “It doesn’t make any sense why she would want to do this so much.”

 

    “Women don’t make much sense.”

 

    I rolled my eyes.  “Shut up.”

 

    He huffed a laugh.  “Maybe she just wants to feel like she’s doing something good.”

 

    I bit down on my cheek hard.  “You’ll just sell another batch of girls into there.”

 

    Grant left a large amount of silent pass between us before he shifted in his seat.  “You really don’t like me, do you?”

 

    I snorted.  “What would make you think that?”

 

    He laughed bitterly.  “I get it.  Prostitution isn’t cool, and neither are pimps.  I got tied up into it, and I’m too tangled to get out.  I really did try once when Jason told me to stop, but guys just kept coming to me and threatening to kill me if I didn’t bring more willing participants.”

 

    “‘Willing participants’,” I scoffed.

 

    “Speaking of which, what went down between you and Jason?  Leah hinted toward it, but never told me anything.  I figured major shit happened if you’re running around with his ex.”

 

    I immediately tensed, waiting longer than I should have to merge on the off ramp.  I was honked and flashed a rude gesture.  Even staring at the road, I could tell Grant was looking at me expectantly.  What answer would I give him, if any?  I had no reason to trust him — not that Jason being a backstabbing ass was any secret.  But if I were to answer this, would he expect more answers?  I decided with a true, but still evasive answer.

 

    “Jason is an ass,” I said.  I nodded at him.  “That scar on you face shows me you know exactly what I’m talking about.  I saw an opportunity to leave, and I took it.”

 

    “He must have flipped his shit,” Grant chuckled.  “He was crazy about you, no matter what he told any of us.”

 

    I was hit with a sickening feeling but also something deep inside me felt flattered; like that was what I _wanted_ to hear.  Jason was crazy about me — so disgusting and so alluring at the same time.  This was the first time since I’d found out Jason had betrayed me that I’d felt like this, and that was scary.  It couldn’t happen.  Jason was a monster.

 

    “Frankly, I don’t care what he did,” I replied.  “I’m away from him, and that’s all that matters.”

 

    “There’s more to it than that,” he stated simply.  When I said nothing, again he spoke.  “You and Leah wouldn’t be dragging each other around everywhere on a mutual agreement of Jason’s awful personality.  She has something you want, and you have something she wants.  That’s the only explanation for how she’s treating you.”

 

    I had something Leah wanted?

 

    “I literally have nothing,” I said.  “She had no gain in letting me come along other than a reason to do what we’re trying to do.”

 

    “And what would that be?”

 

    “That’s none of your business, is it?”

 

    I turned onto the road the motel was on and Grant turned the stereo down.  He took in a breath and paused for a few seconds.  “How did you manage to get away from Jason, anyway?”

 

     _Get away from Jason_.  I huffed.  Like I was trapped.  I’d never been trapped; I could’ve torn them apart from the inside out.  Why I hadn’t in the first place, I had no idea.

 

    “I had some help,” I said, thinking of Leo telling me about Sam.  I winced.  Leo.

 

    Grant chuckled, oblivious to my reaction.  “Who’s the idiot stupid enough to stand up to Jason like that?  Helping his girl run away — wow, they have a death wish.”

 

    I sucked in a sharp breath.  “Leo helped me.”

 

    He let out an abrupt laugh.  “‘Atta kid!  I always knew he had something going for you.  Just had to get you alone and show you what a douche Jason is.  Speaking of, where is that kid?  I got something for him.”

 

    “He’s dead,” I said bitterly, clenching my jaw as I slowed the car at a stoplight.

 

    There was silence for a full thirty seconds until the light turned green again.

 

    “How did that happen?” Grant asked hesitantly.

 

    I took in a long breath.  “Jason sent him on an errand that night to go sort out a deal with an old friend — that friend turned out to be the opposite.”  My breath hitched with the image of Leo’s body being thrown on the front lawn in a bag.  I couldn’t bring myself to describe the scene Jason had set.  “He said he owed Jason, and it got him killed.”

 

    “Holy shit,” he said after a bit.  “Is there anything else I need to know?”

 

    “Jason is back in Poway,” I replied, lips pursed with distaste.  “He’s back to thinking he runs the show, but he’s different this time.  More cruel than I think I’ve ever heard of him, actually.  He won’t let Peter or Markus see my brother in the hospital.”  I left out Tyler’s name purposely, still too guilty to even say it out loud.

 

    “Lastings — sorry, your brother — is in the hospital?”

 

    “That’s kind of the reason I left Jason’s house in Oakland in the first place.”

 

    “Oakland.  That’s where he was.”  Grant paused.  “I suppose you found out about Gravings, then?”

 

    I swore.  “Did everyone in that house know except for me?  How the hell did you all keep him a secret?”

 

    He shrugged.  “It becomes a habit.  Just another guy to us.”

 

    “He wasn’t just another guy,” I said harshly.

 

    “To you, no.  To everyone else, he was.”  When he saw me glaring, he help up his hands.  “You should know that, Phoebe.  You’re part of this world, too.”

 

    “Whatever,” I huffed, willing to finish the conversation.

 

    “If it’s any consolation,” Grant continued as I began to see a hint of the motel.  “I tore up Jason’s place in Poway.  I’d be surprised if they cleaned it up in a few days.”

 

    “I wish it were,” I said.

 

    Grant glanced at me out of the corner of his eye before pointing to a spot in a parking lot adjacent to the motel. It was underneath an overhang, even darker with the clouds in the sky.  “Pull in there.  It’s concealed and near the back exit.”

 

    “You don’t think there will be alarms on the doors?” I asked, doing what he’d directed.  Leah was ahead of us, already in place.

 

    “It’s a crappy motel, not a state building.  Are you trying to talk me out of this?”

 

    “I’ve been giving the two of you reasons not to do it since your ass walked through the door,” I snapped.

 

    “So this is my fault?”

 

    “Pretty much.”  I sighed, parking and rolling down my window as Leah did the same.

 

    “Ready?” she asked, pointing the question at Grant.  He nodded.

 

    “You know how to work this?” Grant said to me, gesturing to the machine I’d use to alter the fake IDs.

 

    “You showed me several times,” I replied.  “I should be fine.”  He nodded, then reached for his door handle.  “Don’t die, please.”

 

    His eyebrow rose and a smirk appeared on his face.  “You’d miss me too much?”

 

    I snorted.  “You wish.  I’ve just had too many people die on me lately.”

 

    “Fair enough.”

 

    With that, Grant was out of the car, the door slamming behind him.  He disappeared around the side and I remembered yesterday when we’d found the girl in the dumpster.  I wondered briefly if she was still there but decided I’d let it — her — lie.  Leah cleared her throat and I looked over and realized my window was still open.  My eyebrows rose at her.

 

    “Thank you for coming,” she said, her voice softer than usual.  She pushed hair back off of her shoulders.  “I know this is the last place you want to be.”

 

    “I didn’t really have a choice.”

 

    “Yes, you did.  You could’ve stayed back at my place.”

 

    “If I’d have known that, I would have.”

 

    She shook her head, the hint of a smile playing at the corners of her mouth.  “Dammit, Phoebe.  Just let me say thank you.”

 

    I rolled my eyes.  “Fine.  Say it.”

 

    “Thank you.”  Leah looked me in the eye when she said it, and somehow I knew she was serious.  I didn’t know why this was so important to her, seeing as we were putting ourselves in serious danger, but she really was glad I came.  I hated tender moments; Leah and I weren’t really friends.

 

    I huffed and looked away, eyes training on the back door of the motel.  “Happy now?”

 

    She didn’t answer, and I didn’t prod her further.

 

 

••    ••    ••    ••    ••    ••    ••    ••    ••    ••    ••    ••    ••

 

 

    “Finally,” Leah hissed as the motel’s back door swung wide and a scared-looking girl strode out.

 

    Her eyes found Leah’s car first and she darted for it, clutching a robe around her body.  All she had was a pair of flip-flops for shoes, and her hair was in a frizzy bun.  We’d been waiting for a good fifteen minutes before a sign of anyone came.

 

    “Are you Clara?” the girl asked Leah, ducking down to look in the passenger’s side window.

 

    She hesitated.  “Yes, I’m Clara.  I’m here to help you.  Get in the car.”

 

    Leah rolled up the windows after the girl slid in, leaving me to wonder what the fake name was about.  Maybe it was so that if they were caught, no one could trace this back to us.  Grant was smarter than I gave him credit for, and Leah was too.  Two minutes later, Leah pulled out of the parking lot and headed for the bus station.

 

    I didn’t have to wait much longer before another girl came out the door.  She was clad in the same type of outfit as the other girl had been in and looked almost as scared.  Short blonde hair whipping at her face as she scanned the parking lot, she eventually caught sight of me and approached the car slowly.  She came up to my open driver’s side window and bent down slightly.

 

    “Kenzie?”

 

    “Yeah,” I said, expecting a different name.  The girl seemed to be a little relieved as she jogged around to the passenger’s side and slid in.  I rolled up my window and turned to her.  “Do you have your papers?”

 

    She nodded, pulling a few sheets and an envelope out from inside her rope.  That must have been where Grant was telling them to hide everything.  I took them from her and checked that her bus time was far enough away that I could get her stuff together with time to spare.  After setting that aside I pulled the fake ID out of her envelope.

 

    “ _Isabelle T Frey_ ,” I read.  I glanced up at her, bouncing in the seat with anxiety.  “What’s your real name?”

 

    “Tally Hayes,” she said, fiddling with the hem of her robe.

 

    My eyebrows rose instantly.  Tally?  Carter’s girlfriend was named Tally, and last I’d heard she’d gotten herself into prostitution.  Had she somehow ended up here?  I glanced up at her.

 

    “Do you know Carter Thompson?”

 

    A guilty look crossed her face.  She hesitated, then gave me a forced answer.  “Yeah.  He’s my boyfriend.”

 

    I gave her a small smile.  “My name isn’t Kenzie.  It’s Phoebe.  I lived with Carter’s group for a while.”

 

    Her eyes went wide.  “You’re Jason’s girl.”

 

    My jaw clenched and a sick feeling fluttered through me.  “Not anymore.”

 

    “Oh,” came her careful reply.

 

    I shook it off.  “Carter really cares about you, Tally.”

 

    “I know,” she said ruefully.  Tally looked at her feet.  “He’s a really good guy.”

 

    A few seconds passed.  “You should take a bus to Poway and find him.  He needs you.”

 

    She shook her head.  “It’s better to just leave.  Carter is better off without me troubling him.  The whole reason I even got into this mess was because I wanted to bear my own burden.  He doesn’t deserve the weight I’m carrying.”

 

    “Carter hasn’t stopped trying to look for you,” I said.  “He loves you, and wants to bear whatever burden you have.”

 

    She didn’t answer.  I decided it was time to start making her ID.  I picked up the camera attached to the machine and told Tally to look up.  After the picture was taken it filtered through the little machine and began printing on the card she’d given me.  I put the car into reverse, then pulled onto the road.

 

    After she changed, the ride was filled with her asking timid questions about what was going to happen next.  All I could say to her was that she could either get on the bus and go to wherever it was in Iowa that she was supposed to go, or she could take the money I gave her and go down to Poway and find Carter.  She didn’t seem content with anything I had to say.

 

    When I stopped in front of the bus station I pulled some cash out of my back pocket and gave her the ID that had been printed on.  I reached up to push the money into her hand, but Tally wouldn’t take it.

 

    “He’s better off without me,” she said with a sad smile.  “I can’t deal with that shame of telling him I became a prostitute because I didn’t want him supporting me.”

 

    I shook my head.  “I think you’re making a mistake, Tally.”

 

    She shrugged.  “I think you’re wrong, Phoebe.  Thank you for doing this.”

 

    With that, the car door slammed and I watched her weave through people to get to the entrance.  I was free to go, but I waited.  Carter had been so torn up about losing her.  He needed her, but Tally refused to believe that.  If only she could see just how much he loved her.

 

    I made it back to the motel in just enough time for another girl — who called me Renee — to climb into the car.  I took her to the station and came back.  Throughout the course of two hours, Leah and I transported about ten girls.  I thought we were making good progress and had just pulled back into my parking spot when the motel’s back door kicked open.

 

    A tall, muscular man had Grant in a head lock and was holding a gun to the side of his head.

 

    I gasped, shutting off the car and standing out of the vehicle quickly.  My hands lifted above my head as I stood behind the small protection of the car door, stomach tightening and dropping at the same time.  I felt sick, like I could throw up.  The man was bald and intimidating and Grant look as scared as I’d ever seen him.  Of course, just like I’d said, we’d been caught.

 

    “Where are you taking my girls?” growled the man, pulling his arm tighter around Grant’s neck.  His face was red, his skin giving off the hint of purple.

 

    My mouth dropped open and I fumbled for words.  “They–I–I don’t know.  I didn’t see where any of them were going.”

 

    “Bullshit!” he shouted, digging in his pocket with his gun still in his hand.  He pulled out a manilla folder and threw it on the ground.  Several envelopes scattered and blew around the empty back lot.  “You’re trying to get rid of my business!”

 

    “I don’t know where they’re going,” I said again, trying not to let my voice shake.  “Really.  All I did was pick them up.”

 

    “He knows, then?” the man pressed, pushing the gun’s barrel back to Grant’s head.  Grants eye shut tight, bracing himself.  The scene in front of my was terrifying; I couldn’t let someone else die.

 

    I shook my head.  “No, we don’t know.  The girls just go!”

 

    Grant’s eyes went wide and I realized that I’d made a mistake.

 

    The man glared at me and pushed the gun harder against Grant’s temple.  “I don’t need him then.”

 

    My chest felt like it was caving in and I was suffocating, choked by the fact that I’d just sealed Grant’s death sentence.  I didn’t know what to do as time seemed to slow, seconds ticking by like hours as the man’s expression changed into a murderous grimace.  Before I could react, a shot rang out.

 

    They both dropped to the cement and I let out a scream.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
.Xx


	7. ~12.04~

    My scream tore at my throat, ripping at my insides as I watched both Grant and the man fall.  I reacted instantly, sprinting up to them as blood began to pool on the ground.  Lungs struggling to take in air, I dropped to my knees beside them.

 

    It took me about ten seconds to realize that it wasn’t Grant who was dead.

 

    The man had a bullet hole through his forehead, his threatening eyes staring blankly at the sky with his eyelids half closed.  I had to look away from him, tangled up with Grant.  Grant was breathing shallowly, probably passed out from his air supply cut off for so long.  He looked relaxed, though I knew he’d be anything but when he came to.

 

    “Holy shit,” someone breathed from the alleyway, and my head shot up to find Leah walking toward me carefully.  “That was intense.”

 

    I just looked at her, incredulous.  It clicked in my head that it must have been her that had killed the man when the sun glinted off of the hand gun clutched loosely in her grip.  She’d just _killed_ him, and all she had to say was “that was intense”?

 

    “Is he okay?” Leah gestured at Grant, who was starting to regain some of the color in his face.

 

    “He’ll probably be fine,” I answered.  There was a three second pause, and suddenly his eyes opened wide and he was gasping for breath.

 

    “What–the– _fuck_ ,” he coughed, clutching at his throat as he sat up.

 

    “You’re Goddamn _idiots_!” I shouted, stomping my foot as I turned my back to them.  “Both of you!  What did I say?  You cannot _tell_ me I didn’t say this would go to shit!  And now someone is _dead_ over this stupid impulse run of yours!”

 

    “Calm the fuck down, Phoebe,” Leah shot at me, sliding the gun into her waistband after clicking on the safety.  “He was a dirtbag anyway.”

 

    “He was a person!”

 

    “Big deal,” Grant rasped.  “People die all the time.”

 

    I scoffed, bewildered by the fact that they could be so casual about this.  “How the hell did you even get behind us anyway?”

 

    “I saw the guy with Grant in a choke-hold when I was about to pull in.  You were already out of the car and surrendering, so I figured I would be the hero.  I went around the front and ran through the alley.”

 

    It was times like this that highlighted what I hated about Leah.  She was too arrogant, too cocky for the show she was trying to run.  Plus, the fact that she acted like she was so much older and wiser than I was made me even angrier, since she really only was nineteen.

 

    “Where did you get that?” I gestured at where she’d hid the gun under her shirt.

 

    She shrugged.  “It was laying around.”

 

    “That is complete and utter bullshit!” I shouted.  “You don’t just _find_ guns, Leah!  I know you have more.”

 

    Leah shrugged and rolled her eyes.  “Even if I did, that doesn’t mean I’m going to give you one.  You haven’t exactly proven yourself loyal or trustworthy.”

 

    “You’ve got to be kidding me!  I went to you when you were the _last_ person I should’ve even been talking to.  I’ve been letting you drag me all around California so you can talk to your friends and go on whim missions to save your sister.  I just risked my damn hide in this stupid impulse job you wanted to do after we lost Bailey.  Hell, I cleaned your fucking house!”

 

    “This isn’t the place or the time,” Grant said hesitantly, now recovered and standing upright.  “We need to move.  Now.”

 

    I was left to brood with Grant in the car, tapping his fingers on the window incessantly.  The sky had gone dark and the air was cold, reflecting my mood.  I couldn’t believe what’d just happened, especially since I’d called it.  I _knew_ how wrong it would go, yet I went anyway.  What was wrong with me?  I was smarter than that.

 

    Grant turned the radio on but I quickly flicked it back off.  I wanted silence.  He looked at me for a long moment, then turned to look out the window.

 

    “You know I really don’t —“

 

    “Just shut up, Grant!” I shouted, smacking the steering wheel.  “I don’t care!  I’m just pissed because you and Leah are both idiots, and you almost got killed, along with me!  How does Leah expect me to defend myself without a weapon?  This is stupid.”

 

    “I was going to say,” Grant snapped back at me.  “That I really don’t think it’s a good idea for us to go out and about unarmed.”

 

    “Not shit,” I laughed bitterly.

 

    “Let me finish, dammit!  God, Phoebe, stop trying to be a smart ass and just hear people out for once.”  I huffed.  “You need a weapon.  So I snagged one for you.”

 

    He held up the gun the man had been putting to his head.  I gaped at him.

 

    “Eyes on the road,” he said, clicking the safety on.  “Before you kill us instead.”

 

    “How the hell did you manage to pull that off of him without Leah noticing?  She’s been weird about keeping weapons away from me.”

 

    “The guy was dead, Phoebe.  It wasn’t that hard.  And about Leah — if I were you, I wouldn’t let her see that you have a gun.  You have a bit of a temper, and just one wrong flick of a finger could mean her death.”

 

    “I don’t have a temper,” I shot back.

 

    “Then what do you call throwing a tantrum when I came?  Or flipping your shit when Leah showed up at Jason’s place in Oakland — yes, she told me.  Or when she and I even came up with this plan in the first place?”

 

    I glared at the road.  “Pent-up aggression.”

 

    Grant laughed.  “Regardless, Leah wants to make sure she’s got the upper hand at all times.”

 

    I shook my head, thinking of everything that had happened today.  How the hell had I gotten here, with two people I rather would’ve died than worked with.  The entire situation was psychotic.  If I would’ve known where I’d end up in just a few month when all of this began, would I have chosen it?   Would I have let Emmett bleed out on our kitchen floor and risked the lives of the people I loved?  Would I have loved Jason?

 

    I turned away from the thought.  Wishing and wondering wasn’t going to fix where I was.  I was stuck with Grant and Leah for the time being, and I’d live with it until I got what I wanted.  I pulled off the interstate and after about ten more minutes we were back at Leah’s condo.

 

    I had slipped the gun into my waistband and immediately gone to store it where I slept, in the guest bedroom.  The nightstand seemed like a worthy place, considering Leah wasn’t really one to snoop through what little things I had with me.  Leah was bustling around in the kitchen for a snack while Grant sat on the couch, typing quickly on his phone.  When I reentered the main space, he looked up.

 

    “Police found the guy — Daryl Henderson, apparently.”

 

    I shuddered.  “Don’t talk about it.”

 

    “Shit happens,” Leah shrugged from the counter.  She was leaning over it, twirling a straw in some mixture she’d made.

 

    “Shit happens when you’re stupid,” I said, sinking into the chair facing the couch.

 

    “The only stupid one was _you_ ,” she shot back.  “You just stood there, looking at him with your hands up.”

 

    “What else was I supposed to do, Leah?  It’s not like I saw it coming, and I don’t recall you giving me anything to defend myself with!”

 

    “You didn’t have to surrender to him,” Leah rolled her eyes.

 

    “You didn’t have to kill him!” I shouted, my voice faltering as I stood up quickly.

 

    “If I hadn’t killed him, Grant would’ve gone in his place.”  She took a long sip of her drink.  “It was him or Grant, or maybe even you.  So you’re welcome for saving your ass.  I’m sorry you’re so effected by death, but that’s the world we live in.  Kill or be killed.”

 

    “The world I live in has more rules than ‘kill or be killed’.  Human life isn’t something to screw with.  If you kill someone, you’re taking away everything from them.  There are no do-overs, no giving back a life.  It’s disgusting to think you’d toy with something as powerful as that.”

 

    “Look at you, all high and mighty!” Leah laughed bitterly, standing up straight.  “Coming from the little girl who wants to get back at the guy who handed her brother’s ass to him.  Where was this attitude all the time you’ve been asking where he is?  It’s pretty clear that you won’t be merciful on him.”

 

    My face flushed.  I hadn’t really put thought into exactly what I’d do when I got ahold of this guy, but my thought hadn’t been above murder.  That made me no better than Leah, and I hated it.  I felt like I needed to bathe the sickness off of me.

 

    My eyes narrowed.  “Family is different.”

 

    “Is it?” she pressed.  “Family are just people, too, Phoebe.  They’re just people who you happened to grow up with and have an emotional attachment to.  Nothing more than that.”

 

    “If that’s how you see it, I feel sorry for you.”

 

    “I don’t want your pity.”

 

    I only glared at her harder, trying to burn a hole through her head with my gaze.  Why I had chosen this path, I had no idea.  It was idiotic to think this would work in the first place.  I’d probably told myself that more than a million times, but when would it sink in that I needed to get out?  Even these few short days with Leah had been nearly unbearable.

 

    “What happens to your plan if I leave?” I challenged.  “I go home, and the vengeance of two girls is gone.  How will you get to whoever this guy is?”

 

    “I’m pretty sure you don’t even know where your home _is_ right now.”  Ouch.  “You screwed that up for yourself a long time ago.  But if you want to leave, fine; I’ve got people in plenty of places and in a much better mental state than you.  This douche goes down because _I_ want him to, not because you actually help the cause.  This whole thing has been a favor to you, Phoebe.  You’re not a necessity, no matter how much you’d like to think that.”

 

    “I don’t want your goddamn favors!”

 

    “Then go the fuck home!”  Leah’s temper was beginning to spike and my fists we balled tightly.  “I’ve been giving you a place to stay to avoid whatever hell you set loose back in Poway when you slept with Jason.  Do _not_ tell me that I’ve done nothing for you, because I’ve done a hell of a lot more for you than you’ve done for me.  So fine — go back, for all I care.  But do that, and you’re on your own; no protection from Jason, or your supposed boyfriend, or anyone else that wants to hurt you and your group.”

 

    I stood, rendered mute by anger.  Not only was I angry because was Leah right, I was infuriated by the mere fact that I was wrong.  Though only a few days had passed, Leah had spared me from everything that could’ve come from that thus far.  If I went back, I would be miserable and my life would implode.

 

    “What the hell is going on–“

 

    “Shut the _fuck_ up!” Leah snapped at Grant.  He blinked, stunned by her outburst turning to him.  “Why don’t you just leave, and I’ll call you if I want you to help with anything again.”

 

    “Whatever,” he shrugged, then shuffled out of Leah’s condo.  When the door closed, Leah’s gaze turned on me again.

 

    “Do whatever the hell you want to do,” she told me.  “Just know that if you stay, I will make all of the decisions and ensure that everything goes according to _my_ way, which has worked so far.”  When I opened my mouth to protest she held up a hand.  “You don’t like that?  Fine.  You’re expendable.  Then you can do what you want with that boy situation.”

 

    I huffed and turned away, striding into the guest bedroom and slamming the door like a twelve-year-old whose mother didn’t let her hang out with her friends.  How did Leah know exactly what to say to piss me off, make me feel guilty, and persuade me to stay all at the same time?  She must’ve had plenty of practice — she had it down to a science.

 

    Falling onto the bed, I let out a long shout into the fluffy pillows.  My fist punched at the mattress all around me, trying to get out the anger inside of me.  I had to cool down to think about this rationally.  Too much had happened today to even decide on anything.  My adrenaline was still high from seeing Grant almost get killed, and the argument with Leah hadn’t helped.  I threw my hair into a bun and began pacing in front of the bed.  Eventually I wore myself out and changed into loose sweats before flouncing into the covers and closing my eyes.  I hardly remembered falling asleep.

 

 

••    ••    ••    ••    ••    ••    ••    ••    ••    ••    ••    ••    ••

 

 

    I groaned, rolling to my other side as a loud chime rang out.  My eyelids were too heavy to open and I buried my head into the pillow to block out the light coming in from the windows.  I didn’t know what time it was, but it must’ve been at least noon.  By the way my bun felt on my head, I’d had a long spell of sleep with plenty of twists and turns.

 

    Another blaring chime reached my ears and I sucked in a long breath.  Slowly, I lifted my head and turned toward the source of the noise — my phone screen was lit up on the nightstand with three messages.  I let my eyes fall closed again as I sat up, trying to hold on to the feeling of sleep as long as possible.  I reached for my phone and managed to pry my eyes open.  The messages were from Peter.

 

     _I don’t want to worry you, but I think you should know what’s happening here._

 

_Please let me know when you get this._

 

_It’s important._

 

My forehead pulled together and I rubbed my eyes.  What was happening that was so important Peter needed to text me?  Was it something with Jason?  With my brother?  I sat up straighter, now more awake than I had been a few seconds ago.  I typed out a quick reply.

 

     _What?  What’s going on?_

 

I swung my legs over the side of the bed, my feet not touching the ground because of the height.  Waiting anxiously, I tapped my heels against the bed frame.  It seemed to take ages before my phone chimed again.

 

     _Tyler is in the hospital._

 

My jaw went slack and I felt a hollowness in my chest.  My stomach settled in my toes and my shoulders sank.  Tyler was in the hospital; I didn’t know what to feel.  Guilty, scared, worried, sorry…  I still cared for him, I knew that — but what I had led myself to believe while I was with Jason still stuck in my mind.  Should I go back to see him?  Should I keep my distance?  My thoughts with Jason had been hostile toward Tyler — he didn’t care enough about me to come for me, what we had wasn’t real love, Tyler couldn’t make me happy.  Did I even deserve to feel close enough to be worried?

 

     _Why?_ I typed in a rush.

 

     _He went across the border to see Sam.  Jason found out and paid him a visit._

 

Oh my God.  I felt numb.  How could Tyler be so stupid?  How could Jason go after him?  Had what we’d been through mean nothing to —

 

    I stopped myself.  I had no obligation to Jason anymore, and he had no more to me.  I had to remember that.  But that didn’t change the feeling of betrayal and anger building in me.

 

     _What did Jason do to him?_

 

_He stabbed him, once in the side and once in the leg.  Thank God he as right outside a hospital._

 

_Is Tyler okay?_

 

_He has some rough internal bleeding, but the doctors say it should be under control in a day or so.  The muscles in his calf are shot, so he won’t be walking on it fully for a while._

 

_Internal bleeding???_

 

_Jason pulled a blade on him.  Not really his style, so I doubt Tyler saw it coming.  He’ll be okay, but I wanted you to know._

 

I sighed.  I’d told Peter to keep me updated, but I didn’t want to hear everyone’s stupid decisions.  I didn’t want to hear all the reasons I should go back to Poway; was that what I had to do?  Go back?

 

     _Should I come back?_

 

I waited, chewing on my nails.  Light continued to filter in through the window and warm my back.  In the time it took Peter to reply, I’d remade my bun and adjusted my sweatshirt.

 

     _I don’t know, Phoebe.  It’s up to you.  If you do come back, I don’t know if I can help you lie and leave again.  Tyler isn’t the only one who misses you._

 

My chest heaved and I felt my heart squeeze.  It wasn’t until the words “ _misses you_ ” appeared on the screen that I realized part of the reason I felt so empty.  I missed them too much; the boys I’d, for the most part, grown up with were what was missing.  I hadn’t seen them for more than an hour in almost three months, and now with Tyler being hurt — at the hand of Jason, no less — I was hit with what I should’ve been feeling ages ago.

 

    If forced to make a split decision, I knew I would’ve chosen to go back to Poway — home.  My first instinct was to leave Leah and just go back and help Sam and Tyler recover without going to the trouble of justice.  I could be home in hours, safe back in my old house with familiar faces.  Everything would eventually god back to normal; but that was a fantasy.

 

    The reality was that my guilt over being with Jason would weigh me down far too much in that house.  I was also too determined to give up finding the man who’d assaulted my brother, and could admit that Tyler picks his own fights and more or less asks for every beating he takes.  Granted, internal bleeding was serious and I was worried, but I didn’t know if I could really go back with Jason there and Tyler knowing about a large part of it.  If I went back, they wouldn’t let me leave; but was that really a bad thing?

 

    I avoided replying and left my phone on the nightstand before walking to the bedroom door.  Remembering Leah’s and my argument from the night before, I prepped myself for any lingering glares she had in store for me.  After opening the door I stepped out into the living room, expecting to find her either on the couch or in the kitchen — but she wasn’t there.

 

    Almost right away I knew Leah wasn’t in the condo.  Her bedroom door was wide open and I couldn’t hear the shower running.  Every other room of the condo was vacant.  I sighed, sinking into the sofa and kicking my feet up onto the coffee table.  Where could she be?  With Grant, maybe.  I wouldn’t put it past her to try to hook up with him, but noon on a Tuesday hardly seemed like the time.

 

    I couldn’t find the remote for the television and was left in the blaring quiet of the condo.  Silence had begun to scare me, mostly for the reason that I could actually hear my thoughts.  I’d never been so ridden with guilt, my thoughts directed back at all that’d happened at seemingly every possible moment.  The feeling was terrible, but I knew I had to get over it.  It wasn’t getting me anywhere.

 

    Maybe I had to go back.  Even with my crave for revenge and my guilt, I probably could force myself to get on a bus back to Poway.  At that point, it seemed like a better option than being dragged around by Leah and not knowing if we were even remotely close to a new lead or the guy himself.  Plus, with my lack of information and connections, I was as in the dark as she wanted me; the thought was sickening.  Poway was where I needed to go, and I’d known it for a while.  I needed to go back, not only for Sam now but for Tyler.  I owed it to him to at least show up.

 

    I jolted as the condo’s door burst open.  Leah clicked hastily over the threshold in heels higher than heaven, talking into her phone at lightning speed.

 

    “How the hell do you expect me to make it from Oakland in half an hour?  No.  _No_.  You’re going to have to tell him to hold his shit together, probably for a few days.  I’m not going to drop everything and run, Garrett.  I have to cover our trail, because it hasn’t exactly been the cleanest; it’s best to wait for a day or two before showing my face again, because — now that I think about it — that pimp probably had cameras everywhere.  Plus, the guy I’m after will start noticing if I move around and follow him the second he lifts a finger.  Yes.  No.  _No,_ Garrett!  Work with me, dammit!”

 

    “What’s going on?” I asked, standing.  Leah shot me a look as she kicked the door closed, ignoring my question.

 

    “Did you even hear a word I just said?  Why can’t he wait?  I’ve got people on my ass too!  If it’s so important he says something today, why doesn’t he just come here?  Yes, that was sarcasm!  Do _not_ call me that, you arrogant dick!”

 

    Leah smacked her hand against the kitchen counter out of frustration.  I stood, watching her, trying to pick anything up from the conversation.

 

    “Tell me what to do one more time, I dare you–“  She gave a shout.  “I’ll tell you where you can shove–  Of course I want–  No, that’s not what–  Calm down!  Can’t you just–  _Let me talk dammit!”_

 

    “Leah,” I said.  She flipped me off and turned her back on me.

 

    “Did Jared even tell you what’s so important?  Then why can’t _you_ just tell me, dipshit?  Wow, I wonder what would give you the idea that I don’t want to drive all the way to fucking Palm Springs right now!  Fuck it, I’ll tell Phoebe to hop in the car right now!  No, Garrett!  He’s going to have to give us a day at _least_.  Did you seriously just ask that?  Just because I don’t tell you about my life doesn’t mean I don’t have one — I can’t believe you.

 

    “You know what?  Fine.  Whatever, Thomson.  I’ll bite.  But there’s no way I’m getting there in that amount of time.  Give me at least a day.  Because I have to clean up here!”  Five seconds went by.  “Thank you.  Yes.  What–“  Leah scoffed, paired with an eye roll.  “Who the hell do you think you are?  I’m not driving across the state fifty times just for you.  Don’t test me.

 

    “Are you finished?  That’s what I thought.  Tell him we’ll be there tomorrow night.  Tell him to relax.  Damn, people are too paranoid!  Don’t worry.  He’ll be fine.  If he’s really that scared, give him the codes and the address to my place.  Duh, the one by him.  Yes, I do think it’s weird that all your friends are in places where my homes are.  I’m sure there are weirder things that’ve happened to us.  What!  Dammit!  Fine, we’ll head that way tonight.  Okay.  _Okay_.  Goodbye, Garrett.”

 

    With that, Leah finally hung up the phone and set it down on the counter.  With a loud sigh she began rubbing her temples, staring at the blank screen in front of her.  She looked annoyed, stressed, and tired with just one expression.  I wondered briefly what she had been doing all morning, but decided not to ask as I walked through the empty space between us and came to stand across the counter from her.

 

    “What was that?” I asked, eyebrow raised.  I knew it had been Garrett on the phone, since she’d addressed him as that.

 

    She shook her head.  “Garrett says one of his friends has a new lead; something else I need on the guy we’re going after.  It’s important, he said, and this kid can’t wait one night to tell me what it is before he shits his pants.”

 

    “You’re going?” I asked, my decision to go back to Poway floating in the front of my mind.  This new lead wouldn’t really mean anything to me, since Leah wasn’t going to let me hear what this kid had to say anyway.  There was no point in me going with her, especially since I now had two people I cared about in the hospital.  Following leads and ending up with loose ends was pointless and destructive.

 

    “ _We_ are, yes,” she said.

 

    “ _You_ are,” I corrected.  I shifted my weight.  “I’m going back to Poway.”

 

    She let out an abrupt laugh.  “What do you think will happen when you show up?  Everything will continue on like it was before you went to live with Jason in the first place?  You’re flat out lying to yourself if you think that’s the case.”

 

    I opened my mouth to reply but closed it again, left without words.  I hadn’t really thought about how the situation would play out.  “I just need to be there for my brother.”

 

    “There’s nothing you can do about your brother, anyway,” Leah said.  “Yeah, I heard; Jason’s back, and he means business.  If I remember correctly, your territory ends before you hit the hospital.  Sam can heal on his own.  Plus, I thought it was your brother you came to avenge, or whatever?”

 

    My jaw clenched.  “He’s my brother.”

 

    “I know that,” she rolled her eyes.  “And say that all works out — what about Mendall?  The guy you cheated on?  He knows about that by now, I’m sure of it.  How will you handle that?  Knowing you, you’ll try to avoid it until you can’t anymore.”

 

    I shot her a glare.  “You don’t know me.”

 

    “I know you well enough.  You’ll go back and try to act like nothing happened, but be so awkward about it that it won’t even take an hour before you have to address it.  Don’t try to tell me I’m wrong, Phoebe.  If Tyler really loves you, he’ll want to talk about it and figure out what the hell happened.  Remember, Jason was supposed to be your archenemy.”

 

    “He is,” I said defensively.

 

    Her eyebrow rose.  “Really?  Because the last few months you spent together suggest otherwise.”

 

    My cheeks flushed in anger and embarrassment.  I’d been such an idiot, and it had felt so amazing for a short time.  But, like always, reality came crashing down around me and I realized Jason wasn’t who I thought he was.  He was still a cold, heartless, selfish douchebag that had killed Emmett and hurt Tyler.

 

    “That doesn’t matter anymore–“

 

    “You’re lying to yourself again,” Leah interrupted.  “Of course it matters; it matters to you, to your brother, to your boyfriend, to everyone you care about.  Hell, it matters to Jason.  The entire game changed when you told Jason you loved him — don’t give me that look, I know you did.  Whether or not you still feel that way — okay, fine, you _don’t_ — your group will see what you did as a betrayal, and that knowledge will continue to effect all of their and your decisions.”

 

    “That doesn’t mean I can avoid them forever,” I said, crossing my arms in front of my chest.

 

    “Very true.  But wouldn’t you rather go back after kicking the ass of the guy who put your brother in the hospital, or come back empty-handed and forced into an uncomfortable situation right away?  I’m not saying don’t go back.  I’m saying to wait until this all cools down.”

 

    “Don’t you get it?” I pressed.  My fists clenched at my sides.  “This will never ‘cool down’.  I’m in too deep for that already!  As far as I’m concerned, going back and helping out now would be a lot more helpful than avoiding them for longer.  I haven’t seen my family in months, Leah.”

 

    “I know that,” she replied.

 

    “I think I’m done chasing around leads,” I said before she could fit in another word.  “In barely a week I’ve been stuck in a car for hours with you, pulled to and from hotels full of prostitutes, found a dead girl, forced to work with a selfish dirtbag, almost killed, and kept in the dark.  If that was just a few days with you, I don’t even want to think about what it will be like before we have even a remotely good source giving us information.”

 

    “Jared Neilson is supposed to have good intel.  A few hours in a car, and we’ll have our answers.”

 

    “No, _you’ll_ have our answers,” I snapped.  “I’ll still be clueless, because that’s what works best for you.”  Leah turned her head, leaving me without a response.  My nose wrinkled.  “I’m going back.  You can’t talk me into doing otherwise.”

 

    “Fine,” she said, throwing her hands in the air and walking around the counter.  “You’re digging your own damn hole.”

 

    My eyes followed her all the way to her room.  She disappeared behind the door and I heard her closet open.  I stood, not really knowing what to do.

 

    “Just know that if you leave, you’ve missed your chance to take this guy down.  I’m not waiting for you, and I sure as hell will not tell you where I am once you’re gone.”

 

    “Was there even that chance in the first place?  We’re going in circles, Leah.”

 

    “Then fucking go!,” she shouted, coming back into view.  She looked flustered and tired.  “If you’re so miserable, and you really think that Poway will be better than this, then just leave.  I don’t want a whiner here anyway.”

 

    “Then why pick me up in the first place?” I pressed, just as frustrated.  Nothing was making sense, and hadn’t been since Leo told me that Sam was in the hospital — hell, even since I’d first woken up in Jason’s basement.

 

    “Call it being generous,” she bit back.  “A mistake I won’t make again.  So either get the hell out of my house, or start getting your shit together.  I’m leaving in an hour.”

 

    With that, she marched up to her bedroom door and slammed it in front of me.  I stepped back, glaring at where I’d just seen her angry form.  Why was she so upset about me leaving?  In her position, I gladly would’ve said goodbye.  Huffing, I turned and shut myself in the guest room.

 

    I paced the floor as I thought back on the last few days.  It really hadn’t been long, but it had felt like ages I’d been forced to spend with Leah.  So much had happened, yet no advancement had been made in trying to find this guy; I didn’t even know his name!  Leah was infuriating.  Did she really think I would run off if I knew one thing about him?  I had no way of gathering information, no way of even figuring out who to trust.  Whether I wanted to admit it or not, Leah was my lifeline in this stupid thing.

 

    Which begged the question, was all of this worth it?  Was dealing with Leah, risking my life, and tearing things apart worth going after someone who had failed to kill my brother?  Yes, this guy had tried to, but what was I going to do with that information?  What was I going to do to this guy once I found him?  I’d never killed anyone, and I didn’t plan on breaking that streak unless it was necessary.  Killing for sport was sick; something Jason did.  _Not_ me.

 

    I thought I’d made up my mind — that I was going back — but like always, arguing with Leah always raised more questions than it answered.  It wasn’t really Leah and I who were going in circles.  It was really just me.  I doubted myself too much, thought about things way more than necessary, and couldn’t make up my mind.

 

    I knew some part of me thought that taking care of the guy who’d hurt Sam could fix everything I’d done to betray the people I loved the most.  Part of me thought that if I could just do this one thing to avenge Sam, it could erase discrediting Tyler, betraying my group, sleeping with Jason, loving him…  It was stupid, and I knew it, and the other part of me said that this mission I’d set myself on was just wasting time to figure out how I could deal with everything I’d eventually have to face.

 

    How could I really deal with looking Tyler in the eye when we both knew I’d given Jason something I could never give the man I’d loved first?  How could I deal with the fact that the man I thought I knew and loved had killed a member of my family without me knowing?  That he’d hidden it from me, then tried to beg for forgiveness?  And now, that same man was back in Poway, continuing to hurt the people I loved.  In all reality, it was no different than normal, but I knew it hurt more because — whether I wanted to admit it or not — I _had_ loved Jason, maybe even more than Tyler.  The thought disgusted me, but the truth was plain and eventually I needed to face it.

 

    There were more things pulling me back toward Poway than keeping me here with Leah.  People that I loved were hurting without me, but then again, that had been the last few months of our lives.  I knew they were strong enough to handle themselves, but that didn’t make being away any easier.  What did make it easier was knowing everything else I’d have to face, to explain when I got back.  That was something I knew I wasn’t ready to do.

 

    I felt like an idiot for wasting energy on something like this, when all I did was rope myself into the same trap over and over.  I knew I was going to hate myself for it, but staying with Leah would allow me more time to pull myself and my thoughts together before having to face my life again.  Peter had even said he wouldn’t help me leave again, but maybe I would need to leave.  Maybe I wouldn’t be able to face them all at once, and would combust if I couldn’t catch a break.   So much had changed, and I found it hard to even think about looking in the eye the people I used to feel so comfortable around.  With just that thought, I knew I wasn’t ready.

 

    An hour passed slower than I would’ve thought, and I met Leah in the kitchen with a small bag over my shoulder and my phone in my hand.  She looked me up and down, taking in the light jeans and dark sweatshirt of hers I’d decided to wear for the ride to Palm Springs.  Her gaze was scrutinizing, and for a second I thought I would glare back at her, but quickly thought better of it.  I didn’t want to admit it, but Leah really had been annoyingly generous by taking me in and away from what I would’ve had to deal with.

 

    Her eyebrow rose.  “Your decision?”

 

    “I’m going with you,” I said.  “On one condition.”

 

    She huffed.  “You really think your ungrateful ass is in a position to be making bargains?”

 

    “I just want to know his name,” I said, ignoring the impulse to punch her square on the nose.  “So I can stop saying ‘the guy who went after Sam’.  It’s a mouthful, and I can guarantee you I can’t do anything with the knowledge anyway.  I don’t know the right people to go to, or have the right resources.”

 

    Leah studied my face for a long time, and finally came out of silence when she adjusted the bag on her shoulder.  “Michael,” she said, almost quiet enough that I couldn’t hear.  “His first name, and the only name you’re getting, is Michael.”

 

    With that, she turned around and headed for the door.  My brow furrowed.  I was shocked she’d given me the name in the first place, but even more so that it sounded familiar.  Where had I heard that name before?  Sure, there were probably a million people with the name “Michael”, but in this context it felt different.

 

    I shook off the feeling and followed her out the door, wondering if this would ever make sense.  She locked it behind us and I pulled out my phone, sending a short message to Peter.

 

     _I’m not coming back.  Not yet.  Keep me updated.  I need to know whose ass I have to beat when I get back._

 

His reply came a few minutes later, when I was sliding into the passenger’s seat.

 

     _So far, just one person.  Jason._

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

****  
Hope you're liking the story.  Let me know what you think!  Predictions?  Thoughts?  Questions?

Xx  



	8. ~12.15~

    I was slumped against the car window on the passenger’s side, trying to ignore the fact that we had been driving for hours — again.  For eleven days, Leah and I had been meeting with various drug dealers to track down whatever information we could about Michael.  It seemed ridiculous to go back an further across California, chasing our tails.  I was beginning to think Leah didn’t actually know what she was doing.  That, or this Michael guy was unnaturally good at covering his trail.

 

    A look at my phone sent a wave a disappointment through me.  I hadn’t heard from Peter since the day Leah decided to go on this wild goose chase, and worry began to fill me every hour I didn’t receive a message.  Peter knew me well enough to know I’d want an update at least every few days — at least, I thought so.  Maybe he had thought about all the ways I’d betrayed him and my brother and Markus and Tyler and realized that I wasn’t worth keeping in touch.  Or, maybe there was just so much going on that he’d had no time to pause for a second.

 

    I bit my lip and my fingers hung over the messages between Peter and I.  For at least ten minutes I sat there, staring at the message bubbles.  Maybe “ _Keep me updated_ ” wasn’t clear enough about how often I wanted to hear about my family.  I knew I should send him a message.  I just didn’t know what to put.  “ _Everything going well back home?_ ”  “ _Do you guys miss me?_ ”  “ _How is Tyler?_ ”  All are slightly insulting, considering the state I’d left them in.

 

    “Are you done wallowing?” Leah said, drawing me out of my fixation.  Eleven days earlier,  I would’ve thought this to be an insult, a witty stab to get on my nerves.  Now I know that it’s just Leah’s personality.  However annoying it may be, she is just sassy and abrasive.

 

    “I’m not wallowing,” I shrugged, sitting up in my seat.  There was a slight pause.  “I swear, there’s already an indent in the seat in the shape of my butt.”  I shifted, raising myself so I could swing leg under my body for a change in position.

 

    “Do you ever stop whining?”

 

    “Not really.”

 

    She huffed a laugh, shaking her head.  She was wearing gray sweatpants that weren’t exactly loose, and an olive green long sleeved t-shirt.  This was her “comfy driving” attire, as she put it.  I was wearing black sweatpants that were actually loose, and a light gray sweatshirt.  Though it was colder in December, I did still have flip flops to wear with them.  It didn’t exactly fit together, but it was comfortable.

 

    There were five minutes of quiet where only the music played at a low volume.  I went back to coming up with different messages I could send Peter, turning my phone back and forth in my hands.  I wanted to know at least _something_ that was going back home — or, back in Poway.  “Home” wasn’t really something I could label one place currently.  For some reason, this thought made my heart ache.  Usually I’d be fine moving about, but since September when Jason took me away from home that first time, stability had been the one thing that made me feel comfortable.  Nothing about this trip with Leah was stable.

 

    “For the love of all things holy,” Leah groaned.  “Just text him.”

 

    I looked up, surprised.  “What?”

 

    “I’m not stupid,” she said, rolling her eyes.  “You’ve been glued to your phone for days.  If you want to know what’s going on, then ask.  There’s nothing wrong about wanting to know how they’re doing.”

 

    I chewed the inside of my cheek for a long moment.  “I’m a little afraid that I’ll want to go back if I talk to Peter again.”

 

    A pause.  “Just text him, Phoebe.”

 

    I flexed my toes and opened a new message to Peter.  “What am I supposed to say?”

 

    Another huff left her.  “‘How are things?’, maybe?”

 

    “Don’t,” I shot at her.  “You know what I mean.  Don’t make fun of me.”

 

    “I forgot that you think everything you’d ask him is offensive.”  She gave me a sideways glance.  “My bad.”  I shifted to stare out the window.  “Maybe, ‘Sorry for falling in love with Jason and messing everything up, but how’s the fallout going’?”

 

    “Screw you,” I shook my head.  My jaw clenched tightly.  I hadn’t yet gotten used to _this_ kind of her humor.

 

    “How else can you get through a breakup, if you don’t joke about it?”

 

    I scoffed.  “It was hardly a relationship.  Mostly, it was just a lie.”

 

    “Just because Jason and your gang leader don’t get along doesn’t mean it was a lie.  It was real — there are just some pent up feelings between your groups.”

 

    “He _lied_ to me, Leah,” I pressed.  I blinked.  “I don’t even know why I’m talking about this with you.  You were the one who screwed Jason up first, anyway.”

 

    She snickered, as if she was sharing an inside joke I wasn’t apart of.  “That was a political matter that he took a little too seriously.  It wasn’t even remotely right between Jason and me.”

 

     _Political matter._   What did that even mean?  I shook my head.  It didn’t matter.  Jason was supposed to be a part of my past.  I couldn’t think about him anymore.  He was a liar, he was cruel, he was a murderer.  Yet, he disguised it so well.  The perfect villain.  I couldn’t let myself feel anything but anger toward him.

 

    “Where are we even going,” I half growled, rage newly fueled by my thoughts of Jason.

 

    “Easy.”  Leah gave me a sideways glance.  “I told you yesterday we have to head to the Palm Beach area.  There’s a guy there we have to talk to.”

 

    “There’s always someone we have to talk to,” I mumbled.  “And there’s always a dead end.”

 

    Leah huffed.  “These ends aren’t dead, Phoebe.  We haven’t been driving back and forth for nothing.  There’s a purpose for all of this.”

 

    “Please,” I said, throwing up my hands.  “Enlighten me.”

 

    I could almost feel her eyes roll.  “Every time we talk to a new person, the area where Michael could be shrinks.  When we talked to the last guy two days ago, he easily shrunk the radius by three miles.  The guy before that shrunk it by five miles.  So, if you can find it within yourself, be patient and start to pay attention to the things people are telling us.”

 

    I bit back a snide comment.  “What’s the radius now?” I asked, half expecting her to ignore my question.

 

    “It’s still about sixty miles, but it’s getting there.  When we started out, we had the whole West Coast to consider.”  Leah seemed proud at her findings.  I turned my head to stare out the window again.

 

    Michael deserved to be punished for what he’d done to my brother.  But as the days went by, I felt my anger and hunger for revenge dissipating into worry about Sam’s condition.  Last I’d heard, Jason wasn’t letting anyone get close to him.  I shivered with fury at the thought.  How dare he keep my brother’s friends from him at a time like this.  My anger at Michael was shifting from him to Jason every time I thought about it.  I just needed to know what was going on; then I could decide which person to hate.

 

    “Text him,” Leah said, bringing me out of my thoughts again.  “You need to know how you’re brother’s doing.”

 

    I knew she was right.  I knew I should text Peter.  Yet, I didn’t know if I could force myself.  Between my guilt about betraying my group and falling for Jason, fear at what may be happening in Poway, and simply not knowing what to say…  I’d never be able to type out the message.

 

    “Tell me what to say.”

 

    A confused look came onto Leah’s face.  “Okay,” she said hesitantly, as if she couldn’t believe I couldn’t text him on my own.  “Say, ‘How are things?’.”

 

    “That’s it?” I asked after typing it into the new message to Peter.

 

    She nodded.  “Yes.  That’s it.”  I stared at the screen for two long minutes.  “Now hit the send button, P.”  This was the nickname she’d given me almost a week ago — I liked it a lot better than “Little L”.

 

    My finger hovered over the button before finally pressing it a few seconds later.  I watched as the message sent, and my chest tightening as the _Delivered_ message appeared below it.  Why was I so worried about what he would think of my concern for them?  Emmett was dead, my brother was in the hospital, my boyfriend — _ex_ -boyfriend — had been stabbed by my other ex-boyfriend — or whatever the hell Jason had been to me.  And on top of that, Chloe had left Peter and taken their daughter with her.  I had so many reasons to want to know how they were.  I needed to stop being paranoid.

 

    “Now, if you’re done stressing out about your people, you can navigate.”  Leah tossed a sheet of paper at me and I pushed my phone into the small duffel at my feet.  An address with directions was scrawled across the back of what was obviously a bill, probably not paid by whoever had given this to Leah.  I realized she had pulled off the interstate while I’d been staring down at my phone.

 

    I read over the directions quickly and checked what street we were about to turn onto.  After directing Leah right, I took a closer look at the address.  This paper was taking us to Valley View.  My fists clenched and I bit down hard on the inside of my cheek.  Poway wasn’t more than ten miles away.  Markus came here all the time to talk to Elliot, a drug dealer who gave him a majority of his product.  Just the thought of seeing him, or someone I knew, so soon after leaving made me feel uneasy.

 

    “Turn left up at the light,” I told Leah.  I watched our surroundings for anything familiar, something to give me a clue that Markus or Tyler might have been here recently or would be coming here soon.  While instructing Leah to turn three more times, I found nothing that could lead me to them.

 

    “This must be it,” Leah said, pulling into a small parking lot with cracked concrete and a sad looking convenience store.  The lights on the front of the building were flickering and some didn’t light up, so instead of saying “Cloud9”, in the dark they would say “loud”.  I noticed cheap brands of cigarettes advertised in the windows when Leah pulled the car up.  The whole sight of the poor blue building made me feel bad for the owners.  How did they ever get any business?

 

    “I know it must look sad,” Leah said, as if reading my thoughts.  “But when you’re in the dealing business, people will go strange places to buy.  Plus, alcoholics will go anywhere to get liquor.”  She stopped the car in a spot about twenty feet from the door.  “We should be able to get at least _some_ information here.”  A pause.  “Try not to speak too much for right now.”

 

    We climbed out of the car and ducked inside.  A small bell chimed.  The smell of cigarettes almost choked me as I took in the sight of dirty shelves with old food packages and refrigerated sections with various kinds of cheap beer.  A counter rested against the wall on the left side of the building, in front of a wall littered with cigarette packages.  A man with a five o’clock shadow, dirty clothing, and bags under his eyes leaned against a stool beside a dinosaur of a cash register.  His bottom lip bulged with what I suspected was chewing tobacco and he watched us carefully, looking our forms up and down.  I crossed my arms, following Leah as she strode up to the counter.

 

    “What can I do for you?” his scratchy voice came from his barely-moving mouth.  Upon closer inspection, I realized he was wearing a name tag that read “Paul”.

 

    “I bet on the right racehorse,” Leah said casually, though her eyes were focused hard on him.  “I’m here to collect what’s mine.”

 

    I looked at Leah, completely confused at her words.  It wasn’t until Paul got up and motioned for us to follow that I realized it must be a code Charlie had given her.  I blinked.  Charlie — race horse — Charlie horse.  It made a little bit of sense, I supposed.  I was beginning to realize how strange some of these people were.  I hoped they were giving us true information.

 

    Paul opened the door that led to behind the beer coolers and kicked aside a rug on the floor.  Underneath was a hatch large enough to fit a person.  A secret room?  I was impressed.  Paul opened the hatch to reveal a mostly dark space, lit by what seemed like one light far away from the opening.  A metal ladder was bolted to the opening of the hatch and to the floor beneath us.  Leah glanced at Paul and he gestured for us to climb down.  I rose my eyebrow in a small protest, though she didn’t hesitate in dropping down to the floor below.  After giving Paul one more glance, I followed Leah.

 

    The space below grew darker after he closed the hatch above.  I looked around, blinking rapidly and trying to get my eyes to adjust faster.  Leah was already walking toward a small card table sitting directly under the one light in the room.  A man who looked about thirty sat in a folding chair behind it.  He had shaggy black hair that hid his eyes and was wearing an old band tee with ratty jeans.  There were two other chairs at the table, I assumed for Leah and I to sit.

 

    I came up behind Leah, but didn’t sit.  She had stayed standing, too.  The man, who I assumed to be Charlie, was shuffling a deck of cards noisily and glancing from us to the table.  I glanced around the room and noticed several small lockers, all filled with what looked like various drugs.  I wondered how much this room would be worth, or how much jail time Charlie would face if he were found out.

 

    “Nice to meet you,” he said.  His voice wasn’t nearly as rough as Paul’s, but I could tell it was on its way.  “Fowler.  Lastings.”

 

    Leah nodded.  “I assume Garrett has filled you in on why we’re here.”

 

    The corner of his mouth twitched.  He gestured to the chairs.  “Please, sit.”

 

    I glanced at Leah for confirmation, and sat as she did.  She crossed her legs and placed her hands on her raised knee.  The cards in Charlie’s hands stopped moving.  He pushed his hair back from his face and I noticed that he did not, in fact, look thirty.  He seemed at least a few years younger than that.  I wondered, though, how Leah could hold her confidence around people who were significantly older than her.  She was, after all, only nineteen.

 

    “Tell me what you would like to know,” Charlie said.  His tone almost sent chills down my spine.  Maybe it was just the darkness, combined with his whole façade of eeriness.

 

    “Have you dealt with Michael before?” Leah asked, stone faced.

 

    “Which Michael?”

 

    “You know which,” she shot back.  I looked between them.  They held each other’s gaze steadily.

 

    “Fair enough.  Yes, I’ve dealt to and bought from Michael.  Charismatic one, he is.  Pretty demanding, too.”

 

    “When was the last time you interacted with him?”

 

    “About one month ago.  Since then, he dropped off the radar.”

 

    Leah’s eyes narrowed.  “You’re lying.”

 

    Charlie smiled.  “You’re good at this, aren’t you?”

 

    “Extremely.”

 

    His foot tapped against the concrete floor.  “Fine.  It was two weeks ago.”

 

    “Where?”

 

    “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

 

    “Don’t bullshit me, Charlie,” Leah snapped.  I glanced nervously at her, afraid she might lose it and jump across the table to strangle him.

 

    “Easy, Tiger,” he chided her in a mock-playful tone.  “Only teasing.”  He turned his gaze to me for a moment.  His mouth turned upward.  “So you’re the infamous Phoebe Lastings.”

 

    “Leave her be,” Leah said harshly.  “You and I are talking.  Ignore her.”

 

    If it had been any other person, I would’ve been upset with Leah for trying cut me out of the conversation.  Charlie, though, made me feel anxious for some reason.

 

    Charlie disregarded her.  “How is it that I get the two girls who both single-handedly unwound Jason McCann in my basement at the same time?”  He laughed and my fists clenched as a strange pang went through my chest.  “The sex must have been wild for him to go as crazy as he has — _twice_.  I’d love to get in on some—”

 

    “Watch your tongue,” Leah growled, and I had the feeling she wasn’t only trying to defend herself.  I closed my eyes for a moment, trying to steady my breath.  Charlie was just trying to get under our skin.  Jason hadn’t come undone when I left.  He’d done the opposite — tightened up his security and his rule of Poway.  The thought sickened me.  It reminded me of my brother alone in the hospital.

 

    Charlie held up his hands.  “Fine.  It was in Lansdale.  I forget the address of the place, and I don't have it written down anywhere.”  Leah narrowed her eyes into slits.  “That’s all I know.  That’s the last I’ve heard of him.”

 

    “What were you trading?” Leah pressed.

 

    “Weapons, mostly,” Charlie said, seeming more compliant.  Maybe he’d had his fill of fun with us.  “Several switch blades, a couple pistols and forty-fives.”  It was silent.  He rolled his eyes.  “Okay — I admit that I did get a fair amount of cocaine from him, too.  But that’s it.  Our interactions don’t consist of much talking.”

 

    “Did he say anything to you about where he was going next?”  I noticed Leah’s fists were clenched.

 

    “Like I said, our interactions don’t consist of much talking.  It’s just get in, trade, get out.  Truthfully, I can’t even remember what his voice sounds like.”  He leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms.

 

    The room was quiet, aside from the faraway ding of the bell attached to the front door.  Two weeks ago, Michael was in Lansdale, just an hour from Poway.  Two weeks ago, I had just seen my brother in the hospital and had decided to cut Jason out of my life.  Two weeks ago, my life had turned upside down and I'd jumped in the car with Leah to go Lord knows where.  To think, that I’d been that close to being able to destroy the person who’d assaulted my brother, and I hadn’t known.  I blinked, realizing how important it was that I found Michael.

 

    “Do you know any of Michael’s normal routes?” Leah asked.  “Or who he normally trades with and deals to?”

 

    Charlie shook his head slowly.  “No.”

 

    We all just sat there for a moment that seemed to stretch on for days.  Then, Leah moved suddenly to snatch something out of the bag at her side.  I saw Charlie flinch subtly, caught off guard.  She scribbled something on a pad of paper she’d found and slid it across the table to Charlie.  He looked down a smirked.

 

    “Are you giving me permission to booty call?” he hissed a laugh.

 

    “If you have any more to say, call that number,” Leah nodded, ignoring him.  “You’ll be paid for your trouble.  Don’t try to give out false information.  I’ll fact check you before you get anything from me.”

 

    “Fair enough,” Charlie replied, holding out his palms.

 

    Leah stood abruptly.  I followed her lead, walking back toward the ladder that took us down here.  I heard a murmur behind me and looked back to find Charlie whispering something into his coat, probably a tiny walkie-talkie of some kind with the guy up above.  A few seconds after he dropped his hand, the hatch at the top of the ladder creaked open.  Paul glanced down at us before standing up straight and watching toward the shop’s front door.  I reached the top, then came Leah.  The hatch was closed behind us and the rug slapped back over top.  Paul followed closely behind us as we reentered the main part of the store.  He returned to his position behind the counter and spat brown tobacco into an empty water bottle.  I wrinkled my nose slightly and Leah strode in front of me out the door.

 

    As soon as we were out the door I saw two men walking up to the convenience store, both wearing black jackets with their hands shoved in their pockets and sunglasses.  Their steps were synchronized and their hair the same style and color, making them look almost identical.  I dropped my eyes to the asphalt before jogging around to the passenger’s side of Leah’s car.  We slid in at the same time and I buckled my seatbelt as the men stepped into Cloud9.  It wasn’t until I noticed the muscles in Leah’s arm were rigid as she put the keys in the ignition that I even had a clue something was wrong.

 

    “Who were they?” I asked, nodding my head at the door.

 

    Leah didn’t answer.  The car started and she backed out quickly, then punched the gas to throw the car toward the street.  My head hit against the headrest and I grabbed the middle console to stop myself from swaying side to side.  Just before we pulled onto the road I heard gunshots coming from behind us.  My jaw went slack and I shot a look at Leah.

 

    She shook her head.  “No one ever goes in there unless they’re looking for Charlie.  Garrett told me he was a popular man, but I wasn’t sure what kind of people he attracted.  Dangerous ones, obviously.  We’re lucky we got that information out of him before they showed up.  They got Paul for sure, but I don't know if they’ll find Charlie.  Chances are, he’ll end up dead too.”

 

    I blinked, then turned to look out the window.  Dead.  The people we’d just talked to were dead, just like that.  We’d been so close to being in there at the same time.  What would've happened if we had been?  Before Jason had taken me from my home, I’d never realized just how dangerous the world I was apart of was.  Sam had probably done a good job of hiding it from me.  After finding out Sam was in the hospital, Jason had killed Emmett, and Leo was dead not ten hours after he sent me back home, the real world was, well, so much _realer_.

 

    “Hey, P?” Leah said, quietly at first.  I waited for her to say something more.  “I think we’ll make a pretty good team when we kick Michael’s ass.”

 

    This took me off guard.  Leah and I, a good team?  The thought may have seemed absurd a few weeks ago.  Now, it only seemed possible now that she’d mentioned it.  My mouth twitched up at the corners.  “Sure, L.  As long as I get the first swing.”

 

    I felt a buzz in my pocket and leaned to the side so I could take my phone out from under me.  Leah’s playful reply was lost as I focused on the name that appeared on the screen.  My stomach began to turn as I read Peter’s name over and over and over again.  For some reason, I couldn’t open the message right away.  Suddenly I couldn’t remember why I’d even texted him in the first place, why I’d want to subject myself to the pain it might cause me to hear about my brother’s awful condition.

 

    “Just open in, P,” Leah’s voice broke my eyes from the screen.  She’d pulled up to a stoplight.  I looked at her blankly, clutching my phone and trying to keep my breathing even.  Leah was right, I just had to open it.  I shouldn’t be getting this worked up.  I was overreacting.

 

    I took in a deep breath and looked back down at the phone.  Peter’s name was still there, and I just had to unlock my phone and read what was inside.  Everything was going to be okay.  It was.  Eleven days couldn't change anything.  _Just open it._

 

    As I let out another long breath, my fingers danced over the screen.  The screen shifted, and Peter’s message flashed across it.

  
  
  
  
  
***PLEASE READ NOTE BELOW***   
  
  
**Xx**


	9. ~12.15...J~

    My head was pounding before I even opened my eyes.  I was suddenly ungrateful for the large window in my room.  Even after these few weeks, the house still felt unfamiliar and wrong.  When I’d first slept here again, I’d rolled over and caught the smell of Phoebe’s hair on one of the pillows.  Half asleep, I hadn’t realized I’d held onto it for at least the next hour or so as I drifted back to sleep.  When I fully woke up, I’d thrown the pillow across the room before slamming it in the trash outside the house.  I’d chewed a good welt into the inside of my cheek on the trek down, knowing that not even a washing machine could get it clean of her.

 

    My headed pounded then as it did now.  I raised my hand up to my eyes and rubbed them, scrunching up my face until it wasn’t absolutely unbearable to open them to the light.  I sat up quietly and took in a long breath.  My hands came to my face and I attempted to rub the sleep from it, but I only resulted in resting my head in them.  A shift in the mattress next to me sent a jolt through my body.

 

    A head of brown hair was buried into a pillow on the other side of the bed.  The covers wrapped up around her torso and lead over to me.  I blinked, then lifted the duvet slightly.  I wasn’t wearing anything.  Sighing, I threw the covers aside and shuffled over to my closet.  Another girl.  I wondered what day it was, or what I’d done last night.  After the first few times, each night I went out seemed to blur together.  Apparently, I had no self control.

 

    I threw on boxers, sweatpants, and a lightweight hoodie.  Again, I found myself rubbing my eyes.  My headache had gotten worse when I stood.  My feet carried me out of the closet and toward the bed.  I grabbed the edge of the duvet and threw it back, not caring that whoever this was was just as bare as I had been.  She yelped a little and sat up, rubbing her eyes and looking at me with a slight glare.

 

    “I’m sure last night was great,” I said.  My voice sounded rough and strained.  “But it’s time for you to leave.”

 

    She crossed her arms as she tiptoed across the room to her clothing.  I turned my back and tore the sheets from the bed, tossing them near the opposite wall.  Before I could turn again I heard the door click open.  The girl was gone before I looked.  My jaw clenched and I sat back down on the mattress.  A wave of nausea went threw me as a pang of ache went through my skull.  I needed to stop drinking during the week — or was this even the week?  I realized I didn’t know.

 

    It was a few minutes before my stomach growled and I stood and walked from the room.  I could smell food and headed downstairs.  The main room was surprisingly clean, and I suspected Tyson.  He was a bit of a clean freak.  I shook my head and ducked into the kitchen, where Lucas was cooking eggs on the stove.  A gallon of milk was on the counter next to him and I grimaced.  Phoebe had taught him how to cook.  Just like that, I wasn’t hungry anymore.

 

    “What was her name?” Lucas asked without looking up.

 

    “Fuck off,” I said, again sounding hoarse.

 

    He laughed slightly, then mumbled something I couldn't hear.  I ran a hand through my hair, knowing it was getting too long.  “What did you say?”

 

    This time he glanced at me.  His face was blank.  “Nothing.”

 

    I shook my head.  “What did you say?”

 

    There was a long pause where he turned back to the stove and stirred around the eggs in the pan.  “They all look like her."

 

    I blinked.  “Excuse me?”

 

    “The girls — they all look like Phoebe.”

 

    My jaw went slack as my fists clenched.  How dare he even mention her, especially after all that’d happened.  I wanted to punch him, to knock the indifferent look from his face.  He had no right to comment on how I was choosing to live, not after everything I’d done for him and for this group.

 

    “Hey!” A voice called up from the garage downstairs.  The door slammed and footsteps sounded like a hammer pounding on the walls.  Xander appeared at the top of the stairs, hair pushed back and a dirty rag over his shoulder.  “Where did you put the tools?”

 

    My anger dissipated as his voice seemed to rattle around the inside of my head.  Lucas scooped what he’d made into a dish and put the pan in the sink.  “I stuck them in one of the upper cabinets,” he told Xander.

 

    Xander nodded, then glanced at me.  “How do you feel?”

 

    “Shut up,” I grumbled at him, then pushed myself onto a stool at the counter.  He shrugged, then jogged back down the stairs.  His heavy footsteps hurt my head, and Lucas’s clanging around the kitchen wasn't helping.  “Can you go easy on the noise?”

 

    Lucas sighed.  “I only opened the drawer.”  A pause.  “Do you want some eggs?”

 

    I wrinkled my nose, thinking of the first time I’d seen Phoebe make them.  “No,” I fired back, probably a little too harshly.  Lucas shot me a look before turning around and eating what he’d made.  I almost groaned.  I _had_ to stop thinking about her.

 

    My hands found my face again and rubbed my eyes, trying to ignore the pain in my skull.  Maybe I would’ve learned that drinking isn’t fun after the first time I'd gotten hung over.  Truthfully, drinking to suppress feelings was useless — you only felt them more after you’ve sobered up.  Plus, the headaches are awful.

 

    I stood and walked over to the cabinet above the sink to find some pain killers.  I washed back two aspirins with a small glass of water and gripped the counter in front of me.  The light filtering in from the windows next to me and across the room was beginning to get to me.  I needed to lay down again, but there were also things I had to get done.

 

    I opened my squinted eyes slightly.  “Where are Tyson and Carter?”

 

    “They went to restock on some food and a couple things to fix up the warehouse.  They should be back in about a half hour.”  Lucas glanced at the clock on the stove, but didn’t say the time out loud.  I had to read it for myself — it was nearly three in the afternoon.

 

    “What day is today?” I asked, not caring to think about it.

 

    I thought I heard him snort.  “It’s Thursday, Jason.”

 

    Shaking my head, I pushed off from the counter and headed out of the room.  Lucas didn’t have to tell me what I already knew.  I’d been drunk on a Wednesday night, pulling a girl from who-knows-where, and bringing her into the house.  Before coming back to Poway — before Phoebe, really — I’d never let girls I brought home sleep in my bed.  The thought made me angry, but it cleared soon after I realized that thinking about it only caused me more pain in my head.  Why was there so much pain?

 

    “Tell them that they need to reset the locks on the warehouse after they finish fixing it up,” I called to Lucas, as loud as I could without hurting myself.

 

    The warehouse, where we kept a good portion of our weed to sell and money from those deals, had been raided by Grant when we left for Oakland.  We’d taken most of it with us, though, so whatever we lost could hardly make a dent in our earnings.  Of course, he knew all the codes and had a set of keys to all the locks on the house and the warehouse.  We’d changed them on the house, but hadn’t gotten around to the warehouse yet.  I figured I’d make Tyson and Carter do it while they’re already out there.

 

    I must’ve decided somewhere between the kitchen and my room that I needed a nap.  My feet carried me up almost numbly to my room, and I collapsed on top of the bare mattress.  I didn’t bother grabbing sheets to sleep with.  They were dirty, anyway.  My eyes closed, and it didn’t take me long to ignore the pain in my head and fall asleep.

 

 

 

 

    This time I woke up with only a dull ache behind my eyes.  My phone buzzed on the bedside table and I strained to grab it.  It was half past four.  I groaned.  I knew I wasn’t going to be able to sleep tonight unless I had something to drink.  It was then that I realized my mouth was bone dry, and I coughed.

 

    The message on my phone was from Xander.  _Found something you might want to see.  I’m at Ninth and Johnson._

 

I rubbed my face.  Somehow I made it to the closet without the haze of sleep knocking me over.  I kept the light hoodie and switched my sweats for jeans.  Before heading out the door, I splashed water on my face in the bathroom.  My eyes caught my reflection in the mirror.  There were dark circles under my eyes, and I noticed I looked older.  In the last few weeks, about five years had found their way onto my expression.  I blinked.  I almost didn’t recognize myself.  A drop of water fell onto my neck and I wiped it off, but not before a stain of ink made me look twice.  Squinting at myself, I moved closer to the mirror to look at it.  Cursing, I pushed off from the sink and stormed out of my room.  There was a hazel eye in front of my ear, where my jaw met my neck.  I _had_ to stop drinking.  My hands formed fists and dug into my temples, trying to clear my head.  I couldn't think anything beside the fact that Phoebe had hazel eyes.

 

    By the time I made it downstairs I had steeled myself.  She wasn’t going to ruin me.  I stuffed my phone in my back pocket and went down to the garage.  Xander’s car along with Carter’s and Lucas’s, were gone.  I figured they were either with Xander or nearby.  I hopped in my truck and hit the button to open the garage door.  It felt like years until I could pull out onto the street.  Then again, it seemed as though everything felt like it took years anymore.

 

    On a good day with no traffic, I could make it to the intersection Xander was talking about in close to fifteen minutes.  Today, though, traffic was heavy and I hit almost every single red light.  When I finally parked in a vacant parking lot with cracked pavement across from a beaten-up gas station, my frustration had put me on edge.

 

    I could see Xander in front of the gas station, arms crossed and pacing at the door.  I shook my head and slid out of the truck before slamming the door.  It always _had_ to be gas stations.  Apparently, drug dealers couldn’t do business anywhere else.  Stuffing my phone in my back pocket, I adjusted the gun I’d stuffed in the waistband of my jeans on the ride over.  Xander watched me approach, across the street and up to the door.

 

    “There’s a guy in there,” he said.  His finger jabbed at the glass.  “He grabbed a deal from Lebber’s guy.”

 

    My nostrils flared.  “Where was he?”

 

    “One block south of here.”

 

    My hands balled into fists.  Phoebe’s group was dealing outside of their territory again.  I’d let them get away with it too many times — they probably thought I’d let them get away with anything, now.  This couldn’t go on anymore.  I wasn’t going to let up because of my past — because that’s exactly where Phoebe was; in the past.

 

    “Is it just him?” I asked.

 

    “Yeah.  We followed him here from the deal and cornered him.  Carter and Lucas are in there.  Tyson is tailing Lebber’s guy.”

 

    I nodded quickly.  Without another word, Xander moved toward the gas station’s front door and pushed inside.  I was hit with a rush of warm air — it had been cooling down a little lately — and sucked in a deep breath.  The shelves inside were almost bare and it smelled like stale cigarette smoke.  The cashier was sitting behind the counter off to the side, tapping his fingers while reading a sports magazine.  He only glanced at us when we walked in.  I looked over to where I heard the murmur of voices and saw Carter’s and Lucas’s heads behind a wall with a cutout, probably meant for serving food or liquor.  I could just barely see the top of a blond head.

 

    When I walked around the wall the boy, who couldn’t be older than eighteen, visibly tensed.  He knew who I was, then, or at least knew who was in charge.  His hands weren’t bound, but they were clasped together in his lap and shaking very slightly.  He started to shake his right leg, and Carter put a hand on his shoulder, most likely to keep him as still as possible.

 

    I came to a stop directly in front of him and crossed my arms over my chest.  It took a few seconds, but he finally met my eyes.  The nerves in his expression were very apparent.  I glanced over his face, then to the shelf beside him where a bag of marijuana and some pills was sitting.

 

    “Who gave you those?” I asked, jutting my chin at it.

 

    He shook his head.  “I don’t know his name.”  The boy’s voice shook toward the end of his sentence.

 

    “Who does he work for?”

 

    He hesitated.  “I’m not a snitch.”

 

    Carter’s hand tightened on his shoulder and the boy groaned.  “You are now,” I said calmly.  “I’ll ask again; who does he work for?”

 

    The boy bit his lip.  “He has ties to Markus Lebber.”

 

    My fists clenched.  Of course, I already knew this, but it didn’t make it any less infuriating that he had overstepped his boundaries.  “Was it his dealer?”

 

    “No, no,” the kid shook his head.  “This was a guy in his direct group.  He lives with them.”

 

    My eyes widened slightly.  That narrowed it down.  If it hadn’t been Markus himself, and since Lastings was still in the hospital and Gravings was dead…  I nearly growled in anger.  It had to have been either Tyler Mendall or Peter Friedriks. 

 

    “Did he say anything to you?” I pressed.

 

    The kid’s forehead pulled together.  “No, not really.  He just came and left.”

 

    I thought for a moment.  “What’s your name, kid?”

 

    He visibly swallowed.  “Bryce.”

 

    “Bryce…?”

 

    “Cook.”

 

    “Bryce Cook,” I said carefully.  “I’m going to let you off.  You’ll take the stuff you paid for and go — on one condition.  You are not to buy from them again.  From now on, you will deal solely with us.  After all it was our territory you got those in.”

 

    He nodded quickly.  “Okay.  Thanks.”

 

    I nodded at Carter, who took his hand from Bryce’s shoulder and then grabbed the boy’s bag.  After shoving it into his hands, he pulled him up by the arm.  The kid looked like he was shaking worse than he’d been when I walked in.  I would’ve smiled if it hadn’t been for the anger I felt toward Markus’s group.  I jerked my head at the door and Carter didn’t even have to touch Bryce before he was out of the room.  He walked to the door, then took off once the gas station’s main doors closed behind him.

 

    “They’ve been getting too damn close,” Lucas said, pushing hair back from his face.  Both mine and his had been getting long.  “This time they actually crossed the line.”

 

    “They’ve done it before,” I replied.  “We just have to remind them who actually runs Poway.”

 

    “By now they’ve relocated,” Carter said.  “They’re not stupid enough to test us and stay where we can find them.  It would basically be suicide.”

 

    There was a moment of silence.  “Why are they taking risks with Lastings in the hospital?” Lucas asked, to no one in particular.  “Seems pretty stupid, if you ask me.”

 

    “Maybe that’s just what they are,” Carter offered.  “They’re getting desperate because they lost Gravings and both of the Lastings.  Desperate enough to be stupid.  Markus is running out of manpower and people to run his trade.  They’re losing money, so they’re having to go for deals in dangerous places.”

 

    “They shouldn’t be able to find deals in our territory!” Lucas replied, almost as frustrated as I was.  “We should be covering those deals.  We have plenty of manpower and numbers to do it.”

 

    “Regardless,” I inserted myself.  “It doesn’t change the fact that Lebber tried to deal in our part of town.  For that, he has to be punished.”

 

    “We don’t know where—“ Carter started, but was cut off by the abrupt star of my phone ringing in my pocket.  It was Tyson.

 

    “What have you found?” I said into the receiver, not bothering with a greeting.

 

    “I found where they are,” he said.  “I also managed to follow this guy to another one of his deals.  This deal is in our territory, too.  Just off  Fifteenth and Gale.  I don’t know how long this one is going to last, so you might want to get here quickly.”

 

    “Hold him there as long as you can,” I said quickly.  “If you have to, let him go through with the deal so you don’t have to face two guys at once.  If he tries to leave, make sure you either take him down or tail him closely.”

 

    Without waiting for a reply I ended the call and stuffed the phone back into my pocket.  I let out a noise of frustration.  “He’s still dealing on our streets!”

 

    “Let’s just go,” Xander said, heading toward the door.  “We can be mad about it there, once we take him down.”

 

    “Fifteenth and Gale,” I said gruffly.

 

    I led Carter, Lucas, and Xander back into the main area of the gas station.  The cashier still hadn’t moved, and remained where he was as we pushed out the door.  They all had driven separately, and as I jogged across the street to my truck they both pulled out of the lot.  I followed them to the intersection, blowing at least three red lights.  As I approached, I saw the run-down sign of a gas station and two cars parked out front — one was Tyson’s, the other was either Tyler’s or Peter’s.

 

    “Why is it always gas stations?” I mumbled, jerking my truck into the lot.  Lucas and Carter slid their cars on either side of Markus’ guy’s car, and I parked behind them so he couldn’t leave.  Xander parked further down, toward Tyson’s car.

 

    I jumped out of the truck and slammed the door, then jogged up to the station’s doors.  I shouted for Xander to go around the back, in case someone tried slipping out that way.  When I pushed inside, I saw no cashier.  Lucas and Carter came in behind me as my head went from side to side, looking for some sign of Tyson or someone else.  Suddenly, I heard a rustle and a grunt behind one of the shelves.  I ducked my head and ran along an aisle, drawing my handgun from my waistband.  I fit my finger against the trigger and held it to my side as I leaned my back against a shelf and glanced back at Lucas and Carter.  I signaled them to wait, then thrust out into the aisle, gun pointed straight ahead.

 

    Tyson was throwing punches sporadically at a guy who was grunting and trying to land a hit back.  They rolled over and I recognized the other guy as Peter.  My jaw clenched, seeing a face to place all of my anger on.  My hands tightened around my gun.  I would use Peter as an example for Markus.

 

    They rolled over again and Tyson came on top, throwing in three more punches before Peter called out in pain.  “Tyson!” I shouted, and both of them jolted in surprise.  Tyson whipped around to look at me, allowing Peter to get in a good hit right under his chin.  Tyson fell back off of him, and Peter moved to get on top of him.  I gave another shout, and Peter finally glanced in my direction.  His jaw went slack as he recognized me.  Tyson groaned underneath him, probably still reeling from the hit.

 

    “Get up,” I waved my gun at him.  Peter slowly pulled himself up off of Tyson and stepped a few feet away.  He began to raise up his hands, very slowly.  My eyes narrowed.  There were a few moments of silence.  Then, his fingers twitched.

 

    Peter darted to the left, behind a shelf.  I sprinted after him, jumping over Tyson and coming around the corner so hard my shoulder rammed into the drink coolers against the wall.  As I regained my balance, I heard skin connect with skin and a pained shout.  There was another moment of rustling and I ran three aisles over to see Carter standing over Peter, flexing his hand.  I couldn’t see Lucas, and assumed he’d gone over to help Tyson up.  Peter was motionless on the floor, limbs sprawled out at awkward angles.

 

    My jaw clenched as I shook my head.  “Markus should know better than to send his guys out here.”  I jutted my chin at Peter.  “Go grab cable ties.  We’ll take him back to the house and throw him in the basement until he wakes up.”

 

    Carter nodded and sent one last glance at Peter before jogging outside.  I walked slowly up to Peter, glaring down at him.  I pushed my gun back into my waistband and my hands tightened into fists.  Each step I took toward him made me even more angry.  Markus was bold, but he wasn’t reckless.  Sending his guys out to deal in _my_ territory was reckless.  Stupid, even.

 

    Peter began to stir.  In a flash of anger, I raised my foot and kicked at him.  I heard his nose crunch and blood began to flow from it.  He groaned, then was out again.  Carter came around the corner, cable ties in hand, and swung Peter’s arms around to bind them.  He did the same with his feet, then called Lucas over.  He appeared at the end of the aisle, Tyson following behind and rubbing his jaw.  They lifted Peter up and took him out into the lot.  I sighed and rubbed my eyes.

 

    When I opened them something on the floor, just under the shelf, caught my eye.  I bent down to pick up the small black object and turned it over in my hands.  My eyebrows rose.  It must’ve been Peter’s phone.  The screen flicked on and a pretty girl with a baby appeared.  I turned it off and stuck it in my back pocket.

 

    “Come on,” I said to Tyson as I brushed past him.  We went out to the cars and met Lucas and Carter.  They’d put Peter in the backseat of Carter’s car.  Xander came jogging around to us, and glanced in the car at Peter.

 

    “That was easy,” he said.

 

    “It always is,” Lucas replied.  They all huffed in reply.

 

    “So what’s the plan now?” asked Xander, looking at me.

 

    I sighed.  “We’ll get him back to the house.  Toss him in the basement, wait until he wakes up.”

 

    He nodded.  “Let’s get going, then.”

 

    I jogged over to my truck to move it so they could all get out of the lot.  I pulled into a parking spot and waited for all of them to leave.  Sighing, I rubbed my face roughly.  All of this anger was wearing on me.  I didn’t know how I could be so furious, how I could let myself get this way.  Had I been like this when I was last in Poway?  Was this how I’d been before Phoebe?

 

    I threw the truck into reverse, then peeled out of the parking lot.  I didn’t want to think about how Phoebe had changed me.  I’d told myself that if anything, I’d lost my edge — but I knew that was a lie.  Phoebe had made me a kinder person, and that was evident in how the guys had been looking at me recently.  When I’d turn and catch them giving me a surprised or analyzing look, I’d try to ignore it.  It only made me think of her and how I knew they’d liked having her around.

 

    For the remainder of the drive home, I tried to tune out my thoughts.  They were getting me nowhere.  All of the cars were in the garage except Leo’s.  I felt a brief stab of guilt for sending him to Uriah alone, but it quickly passed.  He’d done more to hurt this group than to help it.  I shoved my way inside and found all of the guys upstairs, playing a card game at the table.  Uninterested, I headed for the stairs.

 

    “What do you want to do when he wakes up?” Xander called after me.

 

    I paused at the first stair, hand on the railing.  My eyes fell down to my feet and I stood thinking for a few seconds.  I realized it was silent and they were all waiting on me.  My voice came out monotone and disconnected.

 

    “I’ll decide when he comes to.”

 

    Without waiting for a response, I climbed the stairs and pushed into my room.  I pulled off my shirt and tossed it toward the closet.  My gun was laid down on the small table beside my bed, and I stuck my hand in my pocket to remove my phone.  Instead of just one I felt two, and remembered I had taken Peter’s.  Slowly, I set mine on the nightstand and turned his on.  I sat down on the bed and started at the girl and the baby.  Oddly, she reminded me of—

 

    The phone vibrated and a message flashed across the screen.  My forehead pulled together and I stared at the screen.  The name that came up sent a weird feeling through my chest and I felt my stomach sinking.  My jaw clenched.  How could just her name have such an effect on me?

 

    Of course, it was Phoebe.

 

    I slid my finger across the screen and was surprised to find that the phone didn’t have a passcode.  Convenient.  It took a few seconds, but the message finally pulled up.

 

     _How are things?_

 

My jaw went slack.  I could almost hear her saying it, hear the small inflections her tone would bring to the words.  A hand came up to my face and rubbed my eyes.  No, she couldn’t do this to me.  I didn’t care about her anymore — I couldn’t.

 

    But something inside me was tugging at my fingers.  I didn’t know where it came from, nor why I was letting it control me.  I watched as my fingers typed out a reply, but couldn’t do anything to stop them.  My anger began to build in the pit of my stomach.  I needed to stop, but I couldn’t.  _Stop._

 

    But I didn’t, and before I knew it I had pressed the send button.  I felt shame as I stared at the message, and angry that I couldn’t control myself when it came to her.  What I needed was closure, something to make her so repulsive that I’d never have trouble denying her.  Maybe this would help me.

 

    But I knew, way inside myself, that it wouldn’t help one bit.

 

     _Trouble.  How quickly can you get here?_  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 _L_ et me know what you think!  
  
Xx


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